UC-NRLF 


OF  THE 


MEMO1DAL 


DAVID,     THE    SHEPHERD    BOY 


TALES  AND  CUSTOMS 


OF  THE 


ANCIENT     HEBREWS 

for 

YOUNG  READERS 


BY 

EVA    HERBST 

PRIMARY  TEACHER,  CINCINNATI  SCHOOLS 


ILLUSTRATED  BY 

MILTON    HERBST 


A.  FLANAGAN  COMPANY 

CHICAGO        NEW  YORK 


COPYRIGHT  1903 
BY 


A.  FLANAGAN  COMPANY 


CONTENTS, 


David,                    ------  7 

Story  of  Moses,        ------  46 

Story  of  Ruth,      -                           ...  73 

Story  of  Joseph,                -        -        -        -        -  91 

David  and  Goliath,       -        -        -        -         -  125 

David  and  Jonathan,                 -         ...  133 

4423G9 


INTRODUCTION 

THIS  little  volume  has  grown  out  of  the  actual  experience  of 
a  practical,  earnest  primary  teacher,  who  sees  the  place  history 
occupies  in  a  course  of  study.  It  has  been  my  pleasure  to  watch 
the  development  of  the  "history  notion"  in  our  schools  for  the 
past  few  years.  While  several  topics  have  been  worked  out  in 
the  grades,  the  subject  of  this  volume  seems  to  be  the  most 
easily  arranged  for  first  year  pupils. 

Miss  Herbst,  while  herself  thoroughly  familiar  with  her 
subject,  has  submitted  the  manuscript  to  a  careful  Hebrew 
scholar,  who  has  verified  its  statements. 

What  she  has  so  well  done,  others  can  also  do.  I  commend 
the  work  to  primary  teachers,  and  bespeak  for  it  a  large  place 
among  such  teachers. 

M.   F.   ANDREW, 
Assistant  Superintendent,  Cincinnati  Schools. 


PREFACE 

THE  value  of  the  comparative  study  of  different  peoples  has 
been  so  well  demonstrated  in  recent  years  that  it  becomes 
unnecessary  to  dwell  on  this  feature,  in  introducing  this  little 
volume.  That  such  study  will  always  be  the  more  interesting  to 
children  when  in  the  form  of  narrative  is  self-evident  to  any 
teacher.  It  has  been  the  object  of  the  writer  so  to  weave  into 
story  form  the  customs  and  manners  of  the  Ancient  Hebrews, 
that  the  old  familiar  but  always  beautiful  Hebrew  stories  will  be 
doubly  interesting,  and  will  also  stimulate  in  the  mind  of  the 
child  his  innate  longing  for  knowledge  of  other  times  and  other 
manners. 

It  has  been  the  author's  desire  to  make  the  language  of 
these  stories  sufficiently  simple,  so  that  they  may  be  used  by  the 
teacher  for  the  first  grade,  and  as  a  supplementary  reader  in  the 
second  and  third  grades. 

This  work  has  been  tested  in  the  first  grade  of  the  Cincin- 
nati schools  with  much  profit  and  pleasure  to  pupils  and 
teacher  alike. 

The  data  used  have  been  compiled  from  the  best  authorities 
on  Hebrew  Archaeology,  and  where  there  is  a  conflict  of  opinion, 
preference  has  been  given  to  the  more  universally  accepted  view. 

Many  thanks  are  due  to  the  kind  friends  who  by  advice  and 
suggestion  have  given  this  little  work  additional  value. 


DAVID 

TO-DAY,  boys  and  girls,  as  we  look 
about  us,  and  see  how  we  live  and 
what  we  enjoy,  let  me  tell  you  about 
some  people  who  lived  almost  three 
thousand  years  ago.  That  seems  a 
long,  long  time,  as  we  look  back,  but 
there  were  many  people  on  this  earth 
as  long  ago  as  that.  Some  of  these 
people  were  called  Hebrews. 

I  am  going  to  tell  you  how  the 
Hebrews  lived,  and  what  some  of 
them  did.  ISTow,  you  know,  in  all 
times  men  must  have  food  to  eat,  and 
civilized  people  must  have  clothes  to 
wear.  So  many  of  these  people  were 
shepherds  and  farmers.  They  raised 


(7) 


8  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

thousands  of  sheep,  to  use  the  wool 
for  "clothing.  There  were  no  factories 
t!,o;i;  as  tlinv  are  now,  and  so  the 
people  themselves  had  to  weave  the 
cloth  for  their  clothes. 

The  men  who  took  care  of  the  sheep 
were  called  shepherds.  Among  these 
shepherds  could  be  found  persons  of 
every  rank,  from  members  of  the 
king's  family  down  to  the  poorest  peo- 
ple. Even  the  daughters  of  the  king 
sometimes  tended  the  flocks.  Each 
morning  the  shepherd  led  his  sheep 
into  the  open  pastures.  At  night  he 
put  them  into  a  place  surrounded  by 
a  fence.  This  place  was  called  the 
fold.  A  rod  was  held  up  at  the  gate 
of  the  fold,  and  as  the  sheep  passed 
under  this  they  were  counted,  one  by 
one.  The  shepherd  led  them  to  the 


DAVID  9 

wells  to  drink.  These  wells  were 
dug  in  the  ground.  They  were  cov- 
ered, so  that  no  one  but  the  shepherd 
who  had  dug  them  should  know 
where  they  were.  The  brim  of  the 
well  wras  underground,  and  steps  led 
down  to  it.  The  shepherd  drew  the 
water  from  the  well  and  poured  it 
into  troughs  for  the  flock. 

In  the  country  where  the  Hebrews 
lived  water  was  very  scarce.  There 
was  a  wet  and  a  dry  season.  During 
the  wet  season,  which  was  also  the 
cold  or  winter  season,  wells  were 
sometimes  dug  and  filled  with  snow 
and  water.  They  were  then  covered 
over  until  the  next  warm,  dry  season, 
or  summer.  In  the  cold,  wet  season, 
the  flocks  were  taken  down  into  the 
valleys,  and  in  the  warm,  dry  season 


10  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

they  were  led  into  the  mountains. 
The  sheep  were  kept  in  the  open  air, 
day  and  night.  This  made  their  wool 
so  much  finer. 

Sometimes  the  shepherds  lived  in 
tents.  Some  of  these  tents  were 
small  and  were  supported  by  three 
poles.  The  larger  ones  had  seven  or 
even  nine  poles  to  hold  them  up. 
The  tents  were  oblong.  Over  the 
poles  was  a  covering  of  cloth,  made 
of  goat's  hair.  The  tent  was  fastened 
to  the  ground  by  means  of  cords  and 
pegs.  The  larger  tents  were  often 
divided  into  three  parts.  The  women 
and  children  had  the  inside  room; 
next  came  the  men,  and  in  the  out- 
side room  were  the  servants  and 
the  young  animals. 

These  tents  had  no  floors  but  the 


DAVID  11 


bare  ground.  Carpets  and  mats  were 
laid  down  and  on  these  the  people 
sat,  as  they  had  no  chairs.  They 
had  pots,  kettles  and  cups  made  of 
brass,  and  bottles  made  of  leather. 
In  the  middle  of  the  tent  a  small 
hole  was  dug  in  the  earth-floor. 
Around  this  three  stones  were  placed 
to  form  a  triangle.  Here  the  fire 
was  kindled  and  pots  were  placed 
over  it,  resting  upon  the  stones.  In 
this  way  their  cooking  was  done. 

In  the  tent-poles  were  driven  nails, 
on  which  the  people  hung  their 
clothing  and  their  weapons.  The 
shepherds  took  their  tents  with  them, 
as  they  roved  from  place  to  place. 
They  carried  them  folded  and  laid 
upon  their  camels,  oxen  or  donkeys. 

They  also  built  tabernacles.     The 


12  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

four  sides  of  a  tabernacle  were  made 
of  branches  of  trees  placed  close- 
together,  upright  in  the  ground. 
The  branches  were  bound  together 
at  the  top,  and  there  was  a  covering 
of  leaves  and  branches  over  thisx. 
Sometimes  over  this  covering  flat 
stones  were  laid.  These  tabernacles 
were  a  protection  against  the  heat 
and  cold. 

What  made  the  people  think  of 
making  these  tabernacles  ?  Why, 
Mother  Nature  gave  them  this  idea. 
They  saw  trees  about  them,  with  the 
heavy  foliage  meeting  and  over- 
lapping, and  so  they  made  their 
places  of  shelter  in  the  same  manner. 

There  were  robbers  in  those  days, 
and,  so  that  the  sheep  could  be 
guarded,  a  watch-tower  was  built 


DAVID  13 

near  the  tent.  Some  of  the  shep- 
herds owned  thousands  of  sheep. 
They  often  had  goats,  also.  Not 
only  was  the  wool  of  the  sheep  of 
use  to  them,  but  they  used  the  milk 
of  both  sheep  and  goats  for  food. 
At  sheep-shearing  time  the  people 
had  a  great  feast. 

The  shepherds  were  not  always 
men,  for  often  young  boys  were  sent 
out  to  take  charge  of  the  sheep. 
Now  we  shall  hear  of  one  of  these 
Hebrew  shepherd  boys.  His  name 
was  David.  That  was  the  only 
name  by  which  he  was  called. 
He  had  been  given  this  name 
when  he  was  eight  days  old, 
for  such  was  the  Hebrew  custom. 
David  watched  the  sheep  in  the 
fields  near  the  city  of  Bethlehem. 


14  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

Bethlehem  is  across  the  sea,  in  the 
Far  East. 

It  would  take  us  mauy  weeks  to 
travel  to  the  beautiful  country  in 
which  David  lived.  It  was  known 
for  its  fertile  fields  and  rich  pastures. 
Beautiful  trees  of  many  kinds  grew 
there:  among  them  were  the  palm,  fir, 
cypress,  fig,  and  olive.  In  the  valley 
the  air  was  fragrant  with  the  sweet 
odor  of  flowers  which  were  every- 
where to  be  seen. 

David  was  a  handsome  boy,  with 
bright  eyes  and  long  red  hair.  You 
would  think  his  dress  very  queer  if 
you  could  see  him  now.  He  wore  a 
white  garment  of  linen,  called  a  tunic. 
It  reached  to  his  knees  and  wTas  fast- 
ened around  his  waist  with  a  leathern 
girdle.  His  arms,  legs,  and  feet  were 


DAVID  15 


bare.  His  head  also  was  bare,  and  he 
carried  in  his  hand  a  staff  with  a  crook 
at  the  end.  Hanging  from  his  girdle 


DAVID  S    POUCH    AND    GIRDLE 


was  a  shepherd's  pouch,  in  which  he 
carried  food  and  other  things.  This 
pouch  was  made  of  kid's  skin  and  had 
a  strap  fastened  to  each  end. 


16  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

As  David  watched  his  sheep  there, 
day  after  day,  out  in  the  open  air,  he 
grew  to  be  a  strong,  healthy  boy. 
He  was  fond  of  using  his  sling,  and 
many  and  many  a  smooth  pebble  was 
thrown  from  it.  But  do  not  think  he 
spent  all  of  his  spare  time  in  this  way. 
He  was  never  idle,  but  tried  in  many 
ways  to  learn,  and  to  improve  himself. 
He  was  alone  among  his  flock,  with 
the  blue  sky  above  him  and  the  olive 
trees,  with  their  green  branches,  about 
on  the  hills.  Around  him  were  the 
high  mountains.  All  this  beauty  of 
nature  made  David  feel  very  happy. 
So  he  sang  and  played  upon  his  harp 
(kinnor\  which  he  always  carried  with 
him,  and  many  hours  of  the  day  were 
spent  in  this  way. 

David  played  and  sang  so  well  that 


DAVID  17 

all  people  loved  his  music.  It  is  said 
that  even  the  sheep  listened  to  his 
harp  and  followed  their  beloved  leader 
about.  When  he  grew  to  be  a  man, 
he  also  wrote  beautiful  songs,  so  that 
to  this  day  we  hear  of  David  as  the 
aSweet  Singer  in  Israel." 

When  David  was  about  fourteen 
years  old,  as  he  was  one  day  watching 
his  sheep  and  playing  upon  his  harp, 
a  man  came  running  to  him.  "David, 
come  at  once  to  your  father's  house," 
cried  he.  His  father  lived  in  Beth- 
lehem. 

ISTow  let  us  go  to  the  city,  and  learn 
why  David  has  been  sent  for.  See, 
there  is  a  man  coming  toward  Beth- 
lehem. Who  is  he  ?  He  walks  along, 
driving  a  heifer.  When  he  comes 
near  the  wall,  which  surrounds  and 


18  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

protects  the  city ,  he  sees  many  men 
sitting  at  the  gate.  This  is  the  meet- 
ing-place of  the  judges.  They  are 
talking  about  the  affairs  of  the  city. 
When  the  man  comes  nearer,  the 
judges  run  to  meet  him.  They  wonder 
why  he  has  come,  for  the  man  is 
Samuel,  the  great  prophet. 

The  prophet  in  those  days  was  at  the 
head  of  all  his  people.  Even  the  king 
always  consulted  him  about  his  affairs. 
This  prophet  Samuel  was  an  old  man, 
with  white  hair  and  a  long  beard.  He 
wore  a  long  white  woolen  cloak  over 
his  tunic.  On  his  feet  were  sandals. 
These  were  flat  pieces  of  leather,  bound 
to  the  sole  of  the  foot  with  a  strap. 
His  head  was  covered  with  a  band  of 
linen.  He  carried  a  staff,  and  a  long 
horn  filled  with  oil. 


DAVID  19 

The  people  asked  Samuel  why  he 
had  come.  He  said  it  was  for  a  sacri- 
fice, and  he  told  them  to  get  ready  for 
it. 

I  hear  some  one  ask:  "What  is  a 
sacrifice ?"  I  will  tell  you.  Whenever 


FOOT    WITH    SANDAL 


the  Hebrews  wished  to  give  thanks 
to  Grod  for  his  goodness,  they  offered 
to  him  whatever  they  thought  the 
most  valuable  of  their  possessions. 
Sometimes  they  gave  animals,  as 
sheep,  goats  and  cows,  and  sometimes 


20  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

fruit  or  grain.  They  gave  them  in 
this  way:  I£  it  were  a  sheep  or  goat 
that  was  to  be  given,  the  man  who 
offered  the  sacrifice  led  the  animal  to 
the  altar.  Here  it  was  slain  and 
some  parts  of  it  were  burnt.  When 
fruit  or  grain  was  offered  it  was  laid 
upon  the  altar  and  burnt  in  the  same 
manner.  After  the  offering  had  been 
made  there  was  a  feast. 

So  the  prophet  told  the  people  to 
go  up  on  one  of  the  hills  near  the 
city,  where  they  would  sacrifice  to 
God.  And  this  gave  much  joy  to  the 
people. 

After  Samuel  had  told  the  people 
this,  he  went  to  the  home  of  Jesse, 
the  father  of  David.  Jesse  was  a 
weaver  of  carpets.  When  Samuel 
reached  the  place,  he  saw  a  square- 


DAVID  21 

looking  house  of  one  story.  It  was 
bnilt  of  stones  which  were  cut  in 
squares.  The  house  had  no  windows 
in  front.  That  seems  strange  to  us, 
but  when  I  tell  you  how  the  house 
was  built  you  will  understand  how 
this  could  be  so. 

There  was  a  door,  in  the  front,  and 
when  the  prophet  knocked  at  it  a 
servant  opened  it  from  the  inside,  by 
drawing  back  the  wooden  bolt.  Jesse 
came  forth  and  warmly  greeted  Sam- 
uel. As  Samuel  passed  in  to  the 
porch,  he  saw  the  usual  inscription 
on  the  door.  This  contained  a  prayer. 
Here,  on  the  porch  inside  the  house, 
the  servant  of  Samuel  sat  on  a  seat 
which  was  placed  there  for  those 
strangers  who  were  not  admitted  any 
farther  into  the  house.  Here,  also, 


22  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

the  sandals  were  removed  from  Sam- 
uel's feet.  His  feet  were  then  washed 
by  Jesse.  A  guest's  feet  were  usually 
washed  by  a  servant,  but  when  so 
great  a  man  as  a  prophet  came  into 
the  house,  the  master  of  the  house 
thought  it  an  honor  to  perform  this 
duty.  The  roads  of  the  country  were 
dusty,  and  so  it  was  necessary  to  wash 
the  feet  often. 

Samuel  passed  through  another 
door  into  the  middle  of  the  house. 
This  part  was  the  court.  It  was  a 
large  square  place  paved  with  marble. 
One  could  walk  around  the  sides  of 
the  court  under  cover,  and  watch  the 
fountain  playing  in  the  center.  If 
you  could  have  looked  in  here,  on  a 
day  when  there  was  a  large  crowd 
of  people  gathered  together,  for  a 


DAVID  23 


wedding  or  some  other  happy  event, 
you  would  have  seen  a  covering 
of  cloth,  held  up  by  ropes,  over  the 
whole  court.  This  protected  the 
people  from  the  sun.  All  around  the 
court  were  rooms,  and  you  could  have 
seen  into  them  through  the  windows 
extending  to  the  floor.  The  windows 
in  the  back  rooms  looked  upon  a  large 
garden  behind  the  house. 

You  would  not  have  seen  any  glass 
in  these  windows,  as  they  were  screened 
only  by  a  lattice  of  wood.  When  the 
cold  weather  came,  the  people  could 
be  seen  putting  up  a  sort  of  veil  of 
cloth  before  the  windows.  You  may 
wonder  why  their  windows  were  left 
open,  but  when  I  tell  you  that  the 
Hebrews  at  that  time  had  no  chimneys 
in  their  houses,  you  will  understand 


24  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

that  this  had  to  be  done,  so  that  the 
smoke  from  their  fires  could  escape. 
Do  you  think  these  people  had 
stoves  for  heating,  as  we  have?  Their 
fireplace  was  a  small  space  hollowed 
out  in  the  center  of  the  paved  floor. 
In  this  was  set  a  pot  filled  with 
burning  coal  or  wood,  and,  as  I  have 
said  before,  the  smoke  escaped 
through  the  windows.  When  the  fire 
burnt  out,  the  heat  was  kept  in  the 
fireplace  by  a  covering  of  carpet  laid 
over  a  frame.  In  some  houses  there 
was  no  fire  at  all,  for  the  weather  was 
never  very  cold. 

Do  not  these  things  seem  strange 
to  us?  Yet  if  David,  the  shepherd 
boy,  could  come  to  our  homes,  our 
ways  would  seem  just  as  strange 
to  him. 


DAVID  25 


When  Samuel  had  gone  into  the 
house  with  Jesse,  he  invited  Jesse  and 
his  sons  to  go  with  him  to  the  sacrifice. 
So  they  got  ready  at  once.  They  took 
off  their  dark  woolen  clothes.  They 
washed,  and  then  rubbed  their  bodies 
with  oil.  After  this,  they  put  on 
their  white  robes.  White  was  always 
worn  at  a  sacrifice,  for  white  meant 
cleanliness  and  purity. 

Samuel  the  prophet  had  been  sent 
by  God  to  choose  one  of  the  sons  of 
Jesse  to  be  the  future  king.  So,  at 
the  place  of  sacrifice  up  on  the  hill, 
as  the  eldest  son  passed  before  the 
prophet,  he  looked  so  strong  and 
manly  that  Samuel  said  to  himself: 
"Surely,  he  is  the  one."  But  no,  he 
was  not  the  man  to  be  chosen.  Then, 
as  the  next  son  came  up,  "Nor  is  he 


26  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

the  one,"  said  the  prophet.  Nor  was 
the  third  or  the  fourth  the  one,  and 
at  last,  when  the  seven  sons  had 
passed  before  the  great  man,  not  one 
of  them  had  been  chosen  as  the  king. 

Then  Samuel  said  to  Jesse:  "Have 
you  no  other  son?"  "Oh,  yes,"  an- 
swered Jesse,  "David,  the  beloved, 
but  lie  is  only  a  boy.  He  is  tending 
the  flocks."  "Send,  and  fetch  him," 
said  Samuel,  "for  we  will  not  sit 
down  till  he  come  hither."  And 
now  we  know  why  David  had  been 
sent  for. 

David  went  at  once,  for  he  had 
been  taught — as  all  Hebrew  children 
were  taught-  -to  obey  and  respect  his 
parents,  before  all  other  duties.  As 
he  passed  along  the  road,  here  and 
there,  he  saw  the  people  sitting  under 


DAVID  27 

the  fig  trees,  and  he  could  hear  the 
merry  shouts  of  the  children  playing 
in  the  courts  of  the  houses.  As  he 
approached  those  who  were  awaiting 
him,  he  was  a  "goodly  sight  to  look 
upon."  With  his  bright  face  all 
aglow,  he  stepped  before  the  prophet. 

Samuel  knew  at  once  that  he  had 
found  the  one  for  whom  he  had  been 
sent.  He  said:  "He  is  the  one." 
He  took  the  horn,  and  poured  the  oil 
on  the  head  of  David.  Thus  the  boy 
was  anointed  to  be  a  future  king. 

And  Jesse  and  his  sons  sat  with 
Samuel  at  the  feast.  After  the  feast, 
Samuel  went  back  to  Ramah,  his 
home,  and  David  continued  to  live 
the  life  of  a  shepherd,  just  as  before. 

Now,  when  Jesse  and  his  sons 
went  back  to  their  home,  it  was 


28  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

evening.  They  saw  the  new  moon 
rising  above  the  hills.  They  knew  by 
this  that  the  next  day  would  be  the 
first  day  of  the  new  month,  and  they 
knew,  too,  that  when  the  new  moon 
rose  for  the  seventh  month,  they 
would  hear  the  trumpet  blow  to  tell 
the  people  a  new  year  had  begun. 

As  they  came  nearer  to  their 
home,  they  met  a  stranger.  They 
took  him  home  with  them.  He  re- 
mained with  them  for  the  night. 
His  beast  of  burden  was  taken  care 
of.  The  next  morning,  as  the  man 
started  on  his  journey,  one  of  the 
sons  went  with  him  for  a  short 
distance. 

When  they  entered  the  house, 
after  coming  from  the  place  of  sacri- 
fice, they  saw  the  table  spread  for 


DAVID  29 

the  evening  meal.  What  a  strange 
table  it  was,  to  be  sure — nothing  but 
a  round  piece  of  leather,  spread  up- 
on the  floor !  It  had  a  cloth  over  it, 
to  keep  it  clean.  In  the  middle  of 
this  was  a  sort  of  stool.  This  stool 
supported  a  platter. 

The  men  of  the  family  sat  around 
the  table,  with  their  legs  crossed: 
some  were  on  pieces  of  carpet,  and 
some  on  cushions.  There  were  no 
knives,  forks  or  spoons  to  be  seen. 
On  the  platter  was  the  meat,  which 
had  been  boiled  in  a  copper  kettle. 
Each  person  was  given  a  piece  of 
meat,  which  was  put  on  his  bread; 
thus  the  bread  served  as  a  plate.  Of 
course,  as  there  were  no  forks,  peo- 
ple took  up  the  meat  and  ate  it 
with  their  fingers.  You  know,  they 


30  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

always  washed  their  hands  before 
sitting  down  to  a  meal.  In  the  same 
manner  they  ate  beans,  onions,  lentils 


CTJPS 


and  cucumbers.  If  we  could  have 
eaten  with  them,  we  should  have 
tasted  a  bit  of  salt  in  all  they  ate. 

There  were  also  cakes,  raisins,  figs 
and  dates  upon  the  table.  A  brass 
cup  w7as  placed  before  each  person. 
Into  this  cup  water  was  poured  from 
a  leathern  bottle. 

Would  you  like  to  know  how  these 


DAVID  31 


leathern  bottles  were  made?  They 
were  made  by  stripping  off  the  skin 
of  a  goat  or  kid,  from  the  neck 
downward.  The  skin  was  not  ripped. 
The  four  legs  were  cnt  off.  The 


LEATHERN    BOTTLES 


holes  thus  left  were  sewed  up.  The 
hole  left  at  the  neck  served  as  a 
spout,  and  was  tied  up  to  close  the 
bottle. 

The    meat  eaten  by  the  Hebrews 
was    the    flesh    of    oxen,    sheep    and 


32  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

goats.     Pigeons   and  fish    also   were 
used  for  food. 

After  the  meal  was  over,  David 
went  with  his  father,  up  a  flight  of 
stairs,  from  the  porch  to  the  roof. 
You  are  surprised  to  hear  this,  and 
the  roof,  if  we  could  have  seen  it, 


HOUSE    TOPS 


would  have  seemed  the  strangest  part 
of  the  house  to  us.  It  was  flat,  so 
that  one  could  walk  about  on  it.  It 
was  a  solid  floor,  made  of  coal,  stones, 


DAVID  33 

ashes  and  gypsum  pounded  together. 
Often  the  roofs  of  these  Hebrew 
houses  were  so  close  together  that 
one  could  easily  have  stepped  from 
one  to  the  next.  Some  were  made  of 
earth,  and  here  and  there  herbs  and 
spears  of  wheat  and  barley  could  be 
seen  springing  up.  The  people  did 
not  fall  off,  because  there  was  a  wall 
built  all  around  the  roof.  This  was 
built  according  to  a  law  among  the 
Hebrews,  and  reached  as  high  as  a 
man's  chest.  A  small  room,  in  one 
corner  of  the  roof,  was  used  for  the 
servants.  Think  how  queer  it  would 
seem  to  us,  to  see  people  walking 
about  on  the  roofs  of  the  houses ! 

David  walked  with  his  father,  to 
and  fro,  upon  the  roof,  to  enjoy  the 
air.  Jesse  wished  to  talk  to  him 


34 


THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 


alone.     Crowds 
narrow    street 
nounced  to 
the  m    that 
he    would 
next    day 
have     a 
splendid   feast 
people.     After 


were  passing  in  the 
below.        Jesse    an- 


LAMP 


CANDLESTICK 


an  oblong  iron 


at  his  home  for  the 
praying  to  Grod  up 
here,  Jesse  and 
David  returned 
to  their  rooms 
below. 

It  was  night. 
The  lamp  was 
burning  in  the 
room  where 
David  slept. 
This  lamp  was 
vessel,  which  had  a 


DAVID  35 

round  opening  in  the  middle  into 
which  olive  oil  was  poured.  At  one 
end  was  a  small  hole  for  the  linen 
wick,  and  at  the  other  end  was  a 
handle. 

Now  the  thick  mattresses  were 
taken  from  a  box  along  the  wall, 
where  they  were  kept  during  the  day. 
They  were  placed  upon  the  floor  and 
used  as  beds.  The  floors  were  clean, 
for  you  know  the  sandals  were  not 
worn  in  the  house. 

The  Hebrews  had,  too,  a  sort  of 
bed  resembling  a  sofa.  Sometimes 
this  was  ornamented  with  ivory,  on 
the  sides  and  back.  Upon  this  bed 
were  placed  pillows  stuffed  with  wool. 

After  all  had  lain  down  upon  their 
beds,  a  dim  light  could  still  be  seen, 
during  the  whole  night. 


36  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

Where  was  the  mother  of  David 
all  this  time?  The  women  of  those 
days  did  not  as  a  rule  take  their 
meals  in  the  same  room  with  the 
men,  unless  there  was  some  great 
feast.  So  David's  mother  was  with 
the  other  women  of  the  home,  in  a 
room  in  the  rear  of  the  house. 

Here,  in  these  back  rooms,  we 
might  have  seen  the  women  busily 
spinning,  dyeing,  weaving  and  sewing. 
For  all  the  clothing  was  made  in  the 
home.  The  Hebrew  home  was  a 
"hive  of  industry,"  among  the  rich 
and  poor  alike.  Even  the  children 
were  taught  to  be  active  and  busy. 

The  women  dressed  in  very  much 
the  same  way  as  the  men.  But  their 
dresses  were  fuller  and  longer,  and 
made  of  finer  material,  and  their 


DAVID  37 

under-garments  had  sleeves.  The 
women  were  fond  of  bright  colors, 
and  a  dress  of  scarlet  was  commonly 
worn.  The  girdle,  too,  was  of  fine 
woven  stuff.  The  Hebrew  women 
wore  turbans  on  their  heads.  They 
did  not  go  out  in  public  often,  but 
when  they  did,  they  always  wore  a 
veil  to  cover  the  face.  Gold  and 
silver  rings,  bracelets  and  necklaces 
were  worn  by  them.  Just  think  of 
it — we  have  even  read  of  women 
wearing  rings  around  their  ankles. 

Besides  the  making  of  clothing, 
there  was  other  work  to  be  done  in 
the  home.  For  there  the  wheat  and 
barley  were  ground  into  flour,  and 
there  the  bread  was  baked. 

Each  family  had  its  own  mill. 
This  was  made  by  placing  two  round 


38 


THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 


stones    one    above    the    other.     The 
lower  one  was  so  fixed  in  the  floor 


MILL    FOR    GRINDING    FLOUR 


BASKET 


that  it  did  not  move  around.  It  was 
higher  in  the  center,  and  this  high 
place  fitted  into  a  hollow  place  in  the 


DAVID  39 


upper  stone.  There  was  a  hole 
through  the  upper  one,  and  into  this 
hole  the  grain  was  poured.  By 
means  of  a  wooden  handle,  the  upper 
stone  was  turned  around  on  the 
lower  one. 

Thus  the  grain  was  broken  up  and 
ground  into  meal.  As  David  went 
back  and  forth  through  the  city,  he 
could  hear  the  noise  of  these  mills  in 
the  houses.  They  were  used  every 
morning  and  evening,  except  on  the 
Sabbath. 

Now,  since  you  know  how  the  flour 
was  made,  would  you  like  to  know 
how  the  Hebrews  made  their  bread  ? 
The  people  of  that  time  did  not  have 
all  the  different  kinds  of  food  that  we 
have  to-day,  but  in  all  ages  people 
have  eaten  bread  in  some  form. 


40  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

To  make  the  bread  the  flour  and 
water  were  mixed  in  a  wooden  tray. 
Of  course,  each  family  owned  an 
,  oven,  where  the  bread  was  baked. 
Sometimes,  this  oven  was  only  a  hol- 
low made  in  the  earth.  The  bottom 
was  paved  with  stones.  When  the 
oven  was  warmed,  the  fire  was  re- 
moved. Then  the  bread  or  cakes 
were  placed  on  these  hot  stones,  and 
the  mouth  of  the  oven  was  closed. 

They  also  had  a  movable  oven 
made  of  brick,  smeared  with  clay  on 
the  inside.  The  dough  was  put  on 
,  the  outside,  like  a  plaster,  and  thus 
baked.  The  women  of  the  household 
did  most  of  this  work. 

Up  to  this  time,  you  have  heard 
nothing  about  the  schools  for  the 
children.  Well,  there  were  no  schools, 


DAVID  41 


outside  of  their  homes.  Do  yon  think 
they  learned  nothing  on  this  account  ? 
No,  indeed,  for  the  parents  considered 
it  a  dnty  to  teach  the  children  them- 
selves. 

The  girls,  until  they  were  married, 
spent  all  of  their  time  with  their 
mothers.  They  were  not  idle,  bnt 
were  tanght  all  the  useful  things  that 
must  be  done  in  a  home.  They  were 
taught  to  spin,  sew,  embroider,  and, 
of  course,  to  cook.  They  also  learned 
to  sing  and  dance.  Usually  when 
they  danced,  they  played  upon  an  in- 
strument called  a  timbrel.  This  was 
made  of  a  round  brass  or  wooden 
hoop,  covered  with  a  tightly  drawn 
skin  and  hung  round  with  small  bells. 
It  was  held  in  the  left  hand  and  beaten 
with  the  right.  The  daughters  did 


42 


THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 


HARPS 


TIMBREL 


HORN 


not  go  out  on  the  streets  very  often,  but 
once  in  a  while  they  could  be  seen,  with 
urns,  carrying  water  from  the  wells. 


DAVID  43 


The  boys,  likewise,  until  they  were 
five  years  old,  were  under  their 
mothers'  care.  Then  their  fathers 
took  them  in  charge.  They  were 
taught  reading  and  writing.  And 
here  again,  how  different  their  way 
was  from  ours ! 

They  wrote  on  goat-skin  or  sheep- 
skin, and  sometimes  on  sheets  of  paper 
made  of  the  papyrus  plant.  On  this 
they  wrote  with  black  ink,  using  a 
sharp-pointed  wooden  instrument 
called  a  stylus.  The  writing  was 
from  right  to  left.  The  lines  were 
short,  so  that  on  each  sheet  there 
were  written  many  separate  columns. 
The  sheets  were  not  bound  into  books 
as  we  have  them,  but  were  joined 

[together    and  rolled  around   a  stick 
and  sometimes  around  two  sticks. 


44 


THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 


This  roll  of  writing  was  called  a 
scroll.  In  earlier  times  people  also 
wrote  upon  stones. 

Besides  this,  the  boys  were  taught 
farming.  They  practised  shooting 
with  the  bow  and  arrow,  throwing 


SCROLLS 


with  the  sling,  lifting  heavy  weights, 
and  running  races,  to  make  them 
strong  and  healthy.  But  above  all 


DAVID  45 

this,  the  history  of  their  nation,  and 
the  love  of  Grod  were  impressed 
upon  their  minds.  Usually  the  fathers 
and  sons  talked  of  these  things  on  the 
Sabbath,  as  this  was  a  day  of  rest. 

Jesse  told  David  about  the  great 
men  and  women  who  had  lived  many 
years  before.  He  told  him  what  they 
had  done  for  his  people.  He  talked 
to  him  of  the  wisdom  and  goodness 
of  Grod.  He  taught  him  that  the 
love  and  fear  of  Grod  was  the  begin- 
ning of  all  knowledge. 

Now  from  all  this  we  know  that 
David,  as  a  boy,  was  taught  to  be  in- 
dustrious, to  obey  and  respect  his 
parents,  and,  above  all,  to  worship 
God. 


THE  STORY  OF  MOSES 


Sabbath  day,  David  sat  with 
his  father,  in  the  garden  behind  their 
house.  At  their  feet  were  beautiful 
flowers,  and  they  sat  in  the  shade  of 
a  fig  tree,  whose  broad  leaves  and 
spreading  branches  made  for  them  a 
cool  resting-place  on  this  warm  day. 
From  this  tree  they  could  pluck  the 
juicy  figs  which  they  ate  with  their 
simple  mid-day  meal  of  milk,  bread 
and  honey.  In  another  part  of  the 
garden  many  grape  vines  could  be 
seen,  and  here,  also,  grew  the  vege- 
tables. Near  by  was  the  cistern 
with  its  cool  water. 

Jesse  read  to  David  from  a  scroll. 


(46) 


THE   STORY  OF  MOSES  47 

He  read  how  the  Hebrews  had  come 
to  live  in  the  land  of  Canaan.  David 
was  glad  to  hear  these  stories,  and? 
as  his  father  read  or  related  them 
again  and  again,  he  learned  to  know 
much  about  his  people.  As  they  sat 
together  on  that  bright  day,  Jesse 
told  the  story  which  David  loved 
more  than  all  others — the  story  of  a 
great  man  who  had  done  much  for 
his  people. 

You  will  like  to  hear  it,  I  know,  as 
well  as  David  did,  so  many,  many 
years  ago.  This  is  the  story  Jesse 
told: 

Long,  long  years  ago,  our  people 
did  not  live  in  this  country  of  Canaan. 
They  lived  in  Egypt.  Once  a  baby 
boy  was  born  among  them.  The 


48  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

King  of  Egypt  had  given  an  order 
that  all  Hebrew  boys,  as  soon  as  they 
were  born,  should  be  thrown  into  the 
river.  When  this  little  boy  came  to 
live  upon  this  earth,  his  mother,  of 
course,  loved  him  very  dearly.  She 
could  not  bear  the  idea  of  having 
him  thrown  into  the  dark  river.  She 
was  very  sad,  and  scarcely  knew 
what  to  do. 

She  hid  her  dear  little  baby  for 
three  months,  so  that  nobody  might 
know  about  him,  but  you  know  ba- 
bies are  not  always  quiet;  they  will 
sometimes  cry  and  make  much  noise. 
When  the  poor  mother  knew  she 
could  keep  him  concealed  no  longer, 
she  said:  "What  shall  I  do?  I  can- 
not give  him  up."  She  thought  about 
it  for  some  time.  Then  at  last, 


THE   STORY  OF  MOSES  49 

she  said:  "Now,  I  have  a  good 
plan." 

She  made  a  basket  of  rushes.  It 
was  coated  with  pitch,  so  that  the 
water  would  not  leak  through.  It 
looked  just  like  a  little  cradle.  And 
now,  when  the  basket  was  finished, 
what  do  you  think  she  put  into  it? 
Why,  her  dear  little  boy.  She  told 
her  daughter  Miriam  to  place  the 
basket,  with  the  baby  in  it,  among 
the  bulrushes  that  grew  along  the 
river. 

After  Miriam  had  done  this,  she 
stood  behind  the  trees  near  by,  to 
watch  the  precious  basket.  She  had 
not  been  there  long,  before  she  saw 
the  king's  daughter  and  her  maids 
coming  along.  They  often  bathed 
h^re,  in  the  river.  As  they  came 


50  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

near,  the  princess  saw  something 
strange  among  the  rushes.  "Gk>,  see 
what  that  strange  thing  is,"  she  cried 
to  her  maids,  "and  bring  it  to  me." 

One  of  the  maidens  then  lifted  the 
basket  from  the  water,  and  carried 
it  to  the ,  princess.  How  delighted 
she  was,  when  she  saw  the  wee  baby! 
She  exclaimed:  "  What  a  handsome 
baby!  He  must  be  a  Hebrew  child. 
I  will  save  from  the  river,  and  keep 
him  as  my  own  son." 

Then  Miriam  came  forward,  and 
asked  the  princess  if  she  cared  to  have 
her  get  a  nurse  for  the  baby.  The 
princess  bade  her  do  so,  and  Miriam 
went  quickly  for  her  own  mother. 
Her  mother  came,  and  as  she  took 
her  boy  into  her  arms  once  more, 
how  happy  she  was !  Now  she  knew 


THE   STORY  OF  MOSES  51 

his  life  would  be  saved.  The  prin- 
cess commanded  her  to  take  the 
baby  to  her  own  home,  and  said  she 
would  pay  her  to  care  for  him,  until 
he  should  be  old  enough  to  live  at 
the  palace.  The  princess  named  the 
baby  Moses,  for  this  name  means 
"  drawn  out  of  the  water." 

When  Moses  was  still  a  young 
child,  he  was  taken  from  his  own 
humble  home  to  the  home  of  the 
princess.  He  was  so  handsome,  it  is 
said,  that  men  would  turn  and  look 
at  him  as  he  passed  them  at  their 
work.  He  seemed  brighter  than 
other  boys  of  his  age. 

The  princess  loved  him  as  though 
he  were  her  own  son.  She  took  him 
to  her  father,  Pharaoh,  the  king.  He, 
also,  became  very  fond  of  the  boy. 


52  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

He  had  him  taught  and  trained,  just 
as  though  Moses  had  been  the  grand- 
son of  the  Egyptian  king. 

As  a  child,  Moses  wore  no  clothes, 
as  was  the  custom  among  the  Egyp- 
tians. He  had  several  people  to  care 
for  him  when  he  went  out.  He  was 
taken  into  the  streets  in  a  wheeled 
vehicle.  Sometimes  he  was  taken 
for  a  sail  in  a  boat,  on  the  river. 

In  Egypt  the  education  of  a  boy 
trained  the  body  as  well  as  the  mind. 
The  boys  played  such  games  as  wrest- 
ling, fighting  with  single  sticks,  ball, 
and  lifting  and  swinging  heavy  bags 
of  sand  over  their  heads. 

Besides  being  trained  in  these 
games,  Moses  was  carefully  educated 
in  all  that  was  known  at  that  time. 
Pharaoh  sent  for  the  wisest  teachers 


THE    STORY  OF  MOSES  53 

in  the  land.  Moses  began  by  learn- 
ing to  read  and  write  the  Egyptian 
language.  He  learned  the  Hebrew 
language,  also.  After  this  he  studied 
arithmetic  and  learned  the  multipli- 
cation tables.  He  also  studied  music. 
During  his  youth  he  had  teachers  at 
the  court  of  Pharaoh,  but  as  he  grew 
older  he  was  sent  to  the  university, 
where  he  was  taught  law.  He 
learned  about  the  stars,  and  also 
about  medicine.  He  was  trained  to 
be  a  soldier  and  a  leader.  You  will 
hear  how  this  helped  him  in  after 
years.  You  see,  the  king  wished  to 
make  Moses  a  ruler  in  the  land,  next 
to  himself. 

But  while  he  was  taught  all  these 
things,  there  was  one  teacher  whose 
words  were  more  to  him  than  all 


54  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

else  that  he  learned.  This  teacher 
was  his  own  mother.  Remember, 
she  was  the  nurse  chosen  by  the 
princess.  As  Moses  was  still  young 
when  taken  to  Pharaoh's  court,  his 
mother  went  with  him.  When  he 
was  under  her  care  she  talked  to  him 
of  many  things  which  he  did  not 
hear  from  his  other  teachers.  He 
heard  of  his  own  people,  the  Hebrews, 
who  had  now  lived  almost  four  hund- 
red years  in  this  land  of  Egypt.  He 
learned  how  they  had  become  slaves 
to  the  Egyptians,  and  how  hard  they 
were  made  to  labor.  So  that  Moses, 
although  living  in  the  Egyptian  court, 
never  forgot  that  he  was  a  Hebrew. 

When  he  grew  to  be  a  man,  he 
went  among  his  people  to  see  how 
they  lived.  He  saw  them  working 


THE    STORY  OF  MOSES  55 

as  slaves  in  the  brick  fields.  Some 
were  digging  the  clay  out  of  pits, 
and  some  were  shaping  the  bricks. 
He  observed  how  cruelly  they  were 
treated.  Then  he  went  back  to  the 
court.  As  he  lay  on  his  fine  couch, 
in  his  beautiful  room,  all  these  sights 
came  back  to  him.  He  thought: 
"How  can  I  help  my  brethren?  Can 
I  do  nothing  for  them?" 

One  day,  as  he  was  walking  in  a 
lonely  place,  he  saw  an  Egyptian 
treating  a  Hebrew  very  roughly. 
Moses  became  so  angry  that  he  struck 
the  Egyptian,  and  killed  him.  When 
Moses  found  that  he  had  killed  the 
man,  he  was  horrified.  ~No  one  being 
in  sight,  he  buried  the  body  in  the 
sand.  This  was  all  over  so  quickly 
that  Moses  scarcely  knew  what  a 


56  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

terrible  deed  he  had  done,  but  it  was 
soon  known  among  the  people,  and 
Moses  fled  from  the  king's  anger. 

He  wandered  into  the  land  of 
Midian.  As  he  sat  resting  by  a  well, 
the  daughters  of  the  priest  of  Midian 
came  to  draw  water  from  the  well 
for  their  sheep.  Some  shepherds,  who 
lived  near  by,  tried  to  drive  the  maid- 
ens away,  but  Moses  prevented  the 
shepherds  from  doing  this,  and  helped 
the  maidens  to  water  their  flocks. 

They  went  home  and  told  their 
father  about  the  stranger.  Jethro, 
their  father,  sent  for  him  to  come  to 
his  home.  After  this,  Moses  made 
his  home  with  Jethro  and  tended  his 
flocks.  He  married  one  of  Jethro's 
daughters  and  lived  many  years 
among  these  people. 


THE   STORY  OF  MOSES  57 

Though  far  away  from  his  own 
people,  Moses  still  thought  of  them, 
and  longed  to  save  them  from  the 
hard  life  they  were  leading.  One 
day,  as  he  was  tending  his  flocks  on 
the  mountain  side,  he  saw  a  strange 
sight.  There,  in  a  bush  near  by,  a 
bright  fire  was  burning.  As  it 
burned,  strange  to  say,  the  leaves  and 
branches  were  not  even  scorched  by 
the  flames.  He  approached  nearer  to 
it.  A  voice  seemed  to  call  to  him : 
" Moses,  Moses,  come  not  nearer; 
take  thy  shoes  from  off  thy  feet :  this 
is  holy  ground." 

Then  Moses  removed  the  sandals 
from  his  feet,  and  listened  to  the 
voice.  It  said :  "  Go  to  Pharaoh,  and 
lead  the  people  of  Israel  out  of 
Egypt.  Bring  them  to  this  mountain, 


58  .     THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 


and  offer  sacrifices  to  me,  for  I  am 
their  God.  Tell  them  I  am  the  God 
of  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob." 

But   Moses    answered:    "Who    am 
I,  that  I  should  go  to  Pharaoh?" 
God  said:  "I  will  be  with  you." 
Then    Moses    replied:     "I    cannot 
do  this.     The  people  will  not  believe 


in  me/ 


The  voice  then  said:  aCast  your 
staff  upon  the  ground."  Moses  did 
so,  and  the  staff  changed  into  a  ser- 
pent. Moses  was  afraid,  and  ran 
from  the  serpent.  But  again  the 
voice  called  to  him:  "Take  hold  of 
it  by  the  tail."  Moses  took  hold  of 
the  tail,  and  as  he  touched  it,  the  ser- 
pent changed  into  his  staff  again. 
God  said:  "If  the  people  ivill  not 
believe  you,  show  them  this  sign.  If 


THE   STORY  OF  MOSES  59 

they  will  not  then  believe  you,  I  will 
cause  other  wonders  to  happen  in  the 
land." 

Still  Moses  did  not  wish  to  go. 
He  said:  " I  cannot  talk  well."  Then 
God  said:  "I  will  tell  you  what  to 
eay.  Is  there  not  Aaron,  your 
brother?  He  will  come  to  meet  you. 
He  shall  go  with  you,  and  he  shall 
speak  to  the  people  for  you.  Go,  and 
take  your  staff  with  you,  to  show  the 
signs." 

At  last,  Moses  went  to  Jethro  and 
asked  to  be  allowed  to  go  back  to 
Egypt,  to  see  if  his  relatives  were 
still  alive.  Then  Moses  set  out  on 
his  journey.  On  the  way,  he  met  his 
brother  Aaron,  who  had  been  sent 
by  God  to  meet  him.  They  were 
happy  to  see  each  other  again. 


60  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

Moses    kissed  his  brother,   and   told 
him  of  Grod's  command. 

They  went  into  Egypt  and  called 
the  elders  of  the  people  together. 
Then  Aaron  told  them  what  had 
happened,  and  why  Moses  had  re- 
turned. It  made  the  people  joyful 
to  hear  all  this,  and  they  thanked 
God  for  his  goodness.  The  two 
brothers  went  to  Pharaoh,  the  King 
of  Egypt.  They  asked  him  to  let 
the  Children  of  Israel  (as  the  He- 
brews were  sometimes  called)  go,  for 
three  days,  to  offer  sacrifices  to  their 
Grod,  on  the  mountains.  But  the 
king  would  not  allow  them  to  go. 

After  this,  the  Hebrews  were  made 
to  work  even  harder  than  before. 
This  made  them  angry  with  Moses, 
as  they  thought  he  was  the  cause  of 


THE   STORY  OF  MOSES  61 

this  new  trouble.  Moses  and  Aaron 
went  to  the  king  again.  Aaron  threw 
down  his  staff  before  Pharaoh,  and  it 
was  changed  into  a  serpent,  but  the 
king  only  said:  "No,  the  people  shall 
not  go." 

Once  again  Moses  and  Aaron  stood 
before  Pharaoh.  This  time  they 
were  by  the  river.  The  king  still 
refused  to  let  the  people  go.  Moses, 
to  show  the  power  of  God,  told 
Aaron  to  lift  his  staff  above  the  river; 
Aaron  did  so  and  all  the  water  was 
turned  into  blood.  'Now  this  was  the 
first  of  the  ten  plagues  which  were 
to  fall  upon  the  Egyptians.  Not  only 
here  in  the  river,  but  everywhere  in 
Egypt — in  the  wells  and  even  in  the 
houses — the  water  was  turned  into 
blood.  The  fish  in  the  river  died. 


62  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

But  even  this  did  not  change  the 
king. 

Then  Aaron,  as  he  was  bid,  again 
stretched  his  staff  over  the  river. 
At  this,  thousands  of  frogs  came  up, 
out  of  the  water,  all  over  the  land. 
At  last  Pharaoh  was  frightened.  He 
sent  for  Moses  and  Aaron.  He  said: 
"Ask  you  God  to  take  away  these 
frogs,  and  I  will  let  the  people  go." 
But  as  soon  as  the  frogs  were  no 
longer  to  be  seen,  he  forgot  his 
promise. 

And  God  told  Moses  to  have  Aaron 
strike  the  ground  with  his  staff. 
Aaron  did  so,  and  the  land  was 
covered  with  vermin.  They  were 
upon  every  man  and  every  beast. 
The  wise  men  said:  "This  is  the 
hand  of  God."  Still  the  heart  of 


THE   STORY  OF  MOSES  63 

Pharaoh  did  not  feel  for  the  people. 
Next,  God  sent  great  swarms  of 
flies,  and  they  filled  the  land.  They 
settled  upon  everything — indoors  and 
out  of  doors.  They  were  all  over 
Egypt,  except  in  that  part  of  the 
country  where  the  Hebrews  lived. 
Again  Pharaoh  sent  for  Moses.  He 
said:  "Offer  sacrifices  to  your  Grod 
in  this  land."  Moses  answered  that 
this  could  not  be  done.  "Then,"  re- 
plied Pharaoh,  "go,  but  do  not  go  far 
from  here."  But,  as  soon  as  the  flies 
had  disappeared,  he  took  back  his 
promise. 

Moses  told  Pharaoh  that  if  he 
would  not  let  the  people  go,  all  the 
cattle  in  Egypt  should  die.  And  this 
happened,  as  Moses  had  said.  Only 
the  cattle  of  the  Hebrews  did  not  die. 


64  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

Next,  all  the  Egyptians  were  cov- 
ered with  boils.  Then  a  terrible 
storm  of  thunder  and  lightning  was 
sent.  The  hail  came  down  and  killed 
the  crops;  it  broke  the  trees;  it 
killed  every  man  and  beast  in  the 
field.  The  storm  was  so  dreadful 
that  Pharaoh  again  sent  for  Moses, 
but  when  the  hail  had  ceased  to 
come  down,  the  king's  heart  was  as 
hard  as  before. 

The  next  plague  came  in  this  way: 
the  whole  country  was  full  of  locusts. 
In  the  trees,  in  the  houses,  in  every 
nook  and  corner,  these  locusts  were 
found.  They  ate  up  everything 
which  the  hail-storm  had  left.  Then 
Pharaoh  sent  for  Moses  and  Aaron, 
and  said  to  them:  UI  have  sinned 
against  your  Grod  and  you.  Take 


THE   STORY  OF  MOSES  65 

away  the  locusts."  Moses  begged 
Grod  to  take  away  the  locusts,  and  a 
strong  wind  came  and  blew  them 
into  the  sea.  Then,  just  as  so  many 
times  before,  Pharaoh  forgot  his 
promise. 

Now  there  came  a  terrible  dark- 
ness over  the  land.  For  three  days 
it  was  so  dark  that  the  Egyptians 
could  not  even  see  one  another. 
They  could  not  leave  their  bedSc 
But  there  was  light  where  the 
Hebrews  lived.  Again  Pharaoh  sent 
for  Moses.  aGk>  ye,"  he  said,  "and 
offer  sacrifices  to  your  God.  Only, 
your  flocks  and  herds  must  remain 
behind."  Moses  said  the  people 
should  not  go  without  their  cattle. 
Pharaoh  then  cried:  "Q-et  thee  from 
me.  See  my  face  no  more."  Moses 


66  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

answered:   "I  will  not  see   thy  face 
again." 

Thereupon  the  Hebrews  began  to 
get  ready  to  go  out  of  the  land.  At 
God's  command  Moses  told  them  to 
ask  the  Egyptians  for  jewels  and 
silver  and  gold.  And  the  Egyptians 
gave  them  many  valuable  things. 
Moses  bade  each  Hebrew  to  kill  a 
lamb,  and  splash  the  blood  upon  the 
lintel  of  his  door.  Thus  the  homes  of 
the  Hebrews  were  to  be  known  from 
those  of  the  Egyptians.  This  was 
on  the  night  of  the  fourteenth  of  the 
first  month,  called  Msan.  Moses 
told  the  people  that,  forever  after, 
a  feast  should  be  held  on  the  anniver- 
sary of  this  night,  in  memory  of 
God's  goodness.  This  should  be 
called  the  "Feast  of  Passover." 


THE   STORY  OF  MOSES  67 

That  night,  a  more  terrible  plague 
than  all  the  other  ones  visited  the 
Egyptians.  At  midnight,  wailing 
was  heard  in  all  parts  of  the  land, 
for  in  every  home,  in  palaces  as  well 
as  in  the  poorest  huts,  the  first-born 
son  lay  dead.  ISTot  one  person  had 
died  among  the  Children  of  Israel. 
This  was  the  tenth  plague  sent  by 
God  upon  the  Egyptians.  Then 
Pharaoh  was  so  frightened  that  he 
called  for  Moses  and  Aaron,  and 
cried:  "Rise,  and  take  the  people 
and  all  their  belongings.  Go  out  of 
the  land  and  serve  your  God." 

The  Egyptians  helped  them  in  their 
preparations,  for  they  thought  that 
unless  the  Hebrews  went,  they  them- 
selves would  all  die.  The  Children 
of  Israel  took  with  them  all  they 


68  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

could  cany.  Think  what  preparation 
was  necessary!  Think  of  a  crowd  of 
about  six  hundred  thousand  men, 
besides  the  women  and  children, 
leaving  the  country  at  one  time ! 
What  a  long  procession!  How 
many,  many  people,  and  how  many 
cattle  and  beasts  of  burden!  They 
carried  with  them  their  tents,  also. 
They  were  hurried  away  so  quickly 
that  the  dough  for  their  bread  was 
was  not  yet  leavened — that  is,  it  had 
not  had  time  to  rise — so  they  carried 
"the  unleavened  dough,  in  kneading- 
troughs,  bound  up  in  their  clothes, 
upon  their  shoulders." 

Their  departure  from  Egypt  was 
on  the  night  of  the  first  full  moon, 
after  the  winter  was  over.  The  days 
were  growing  longer,  and  the  time  of 


THE   STORY  OF  MOSES  69 


year  was  the  most  pleasant  for  travel- 
ing. At  night  the  people  slept  upon 
their  cloaks,  which  they  spread  upon 
the  ground.  They  took  a  long  way 
through  the  wilderness. 

Some  time  after  they  had  gone, 
Pharaoh  was  sorry  that  he  had  al- 
lowed the  Hebrews  to  depart.  He 
sent  his  mighty  army,  together  with 
hundreds  of  two-wheeled  chariots, 
after  them. 

As  the  Hebrews  were  close  upon 
the  Red  Sea,  they  saw  the  Egyptian 
army  coming  in  pursuit  of  them. 
They  were  greatly  frightened.  They 
became  angry  with  Moses,  and  asked 
why  he  had  brought  them  there  to 
die.  Moses  said:  "God  will  take  care 
of  you."  At  this,  he  raised  his  staff 
over  the  sea.  A  strong  east  wind 


70  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

blew  all  night,  and  the  water  of  the 
sea  divided.  Then  the  Hebrews  passed 
over  on  the  dry  sand,  in  the  middle 
of  the  sea,  with  the  water  forming  a 
wall  on  each  side.  A  pillar  of  light 
in  front  showed  them  the  way,  while 
a  dark  cloud  behind  hid  them  from 
their  enemies. 

Pharaoh's  chariots  and  the  army 
rushed  on  to  overtake  them.  The 
wheels  of  the  chariots  sank  in  the 
sand,  as  the  horses  dashed  into  the 
sea.  The  wind  died  away;  the  water 
rushed  back  into  its  place,  covering 
chariots,  horses  and  men.  Not  one 
Egyptian  was  left. 

When  the  people  of  Israel  saw 
what  had  happened,  they  were  very 
thankful  to  God  for  their  safe  de- 
livery from  slavery.  Moses  sang 


72  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 


words  of  praise  to  Grod,  and  all  the 
Children  of  Israel  joined  in  this  song 
of  praise.  Miriam,  the  sister  of 
Moses,  was  with  them.  She  it  was, 
you  will  remember,  who  years  before 
had  placed  the  little  cradle  by  the 
river.  Miriam  and  the  other  women 
took  their  timbrels  in  their  hands,  and 
they  played  and  danced,  as  she,  also, 
sang  beautiful  words  of  praise  to 
God. 

How  happy  they  were !  For  this 
was  their  day  of  deliverance.  And 
the  Children  of  Israel,  for  all  time  to 
come,  will  bless  Moses,  who,  with  the 
Mielp  of  Grod,  delivered  them  from 
their  bondage. 


THE  STORY  OF  RUTH 

I  AM  sure  you  all  love  to  hear  your 
parents  talk  to  you  of  what  their 
grandmothers  and]  grandfathers  did 
when  they  were  young,  so  many 
years  ago.  So  David  loved  to  hear 
of  his  great-grandmother  Ruth,  who 
was  known  as  the  noblest  and  best 
of  all  Hebrew  women. 

Now,  at  one  time,  there  had  been 
a  dreadful  famine  in  Bethlehem. 
There  lived  there  the  family  of 
Elimelech,  his  wife  Naomi,  and  their 
two  sons.  When  the  famine  came^ 
they  no  longer  had  bread  to  eat,  so 
they  went  into  a  strange  country,  and, 
soon  after,  the  father  died.  Here 


(73) 


74  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

the  sons  found  wives,  one  of  them 
being  Ruth,  the  great-grandmother 
of  David.  They  lived  together  hap- 
pily, for  some  years ;  then  both  sons 
died,  and  Naomi  was  left  very  poor. 
She  said  :  "I  shall  go  back  to  my  own 
people  at  Bethlehem.  They  will  help 
me,  for  God  has  again  blessed  them 
with  bread." 

Then  the  danghters-in-law  said 
they  wonld  go  with  her.  All  three 
started  on  the  journey,  but,  after 
they  had  gone  some  distance,  Naomi 
begged  the  others  to  return  to  their 
mothers'  homes,  where  they  would 
fare  better  than  they  would  in  a 
strange  land.  The  young  women  felt 
very  sad  as  they  thought  of  leaving 
Naomi,  and  when  she  kissed  them 
good-by  they  wept.  They  said  they 


THE   STORY  OF  RUTH  75 

would  not  leave  her.  But  Naomi 
still  urged  them,  and  at  last  the 
older  of  the  two  women  kissed  her 
mother-in-law  again,  and  returned  to 
her  own  home. 

Ruth  still  clung  to  Naomi.  She 
said :  "Urge  me  not  to  leave  thee,  for 
whither  thou  goest,  will  I  go :  and 
where  thou  lodgest,  will  I  lodge. 
Thy  people  shall  be  my  people,  and 
thy  God,  my  God." 

So  the  two  women  traveled  on  to 
Bethlehem.  The  name  of  this  city- 
" House  of  Bread"  -seemed  rightly 
given,  at  the  time  these  women  found 
their  way  to  a  large  farm  near  the 
city,  for  it  was  harvest  time,  and  they 
saw  the  farmers  busily  gathering  in 
the  grain,  which  was  very  plentiful. 

Naomi  had  no  money  to  buy  food, 


RUTH  AND  BOAZ 


THE   STORY  OF  RUTH  77 

so  'Ruth  went  into  the  field.  Here 
she  saw  the  men  and  maidens  work- 
ing. She  asked  to  be  allowed  to 
glean  after  the  reapers.  The  grain 
was  cut  with  the  sickle,  and  bound 
into  bundles  which  were  called 
sheaves.  As  the  reapers  gathered 
the  sheaves  of  grain,  the  stray  ears 
which  fell  from  them  were  picked 
up  by  Ruth.  This  was  called  glean- 
ing. The  men  let  her  do  this,  as  they 
wished  to  be  kind  to  a  stranger.  Be- 
sides it  was  a  law  to  allow  the  poor 
to  glean. 

When  Boaz,  the  owner  of  the  field, 
saw  her,  and  learned  who  she  was, 
and  what  a  good  daughter-in-law  she 
was  to  Naomi,  he  told  the  men  to 
help  her — to  let  her  have  as  much 
grain  as  she  could  carry.  When  she 


78  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

asked  why  he  was  so  kind  to  her, 
Boaz  said:  "I  have  heard  of  your 
goodness.  I  have  heard  what  you 
have  done  for  your  mother-in-law." 

When  it  was  time  for  the  reapers  to 
rest  and  eat  the  mid-day  meal,  Boaz 
sent  for  Ruth.  He  asked  her  to  join 
them.  After  she  had  eaten  the 
parched  corn,  and  the  bread  dipped 
in  vinegar,  she  still  had  a  share  to 
take  to  Naomi.  Thus  she  gleaned 
all  day,  and  when  she  beat  out  with 
sticks  what  she  had  gleaned,  she  found 
she  had  an  ephah,  which  was  about  a 
bushel,  of  barley. 

She  returned  to  Naomi,  and  told 
her  what  had  happened.  Naomi  said : 
"Boaz  is  our  kinsman.  He  is  still  the 
kind  man  he  always  was." 

After  this  Ruth  gleaned  each  day 


THE   STORY  OF  RUTH  79 

in  the  field,  with  the  other  maidens. 
Now  that  yon  have  seen  these  peo- 
ple all  busily  working  on  this  large 
farm,  let  us  go  back  and  learn  when 
the  seed  was  sown,  and  how  the  work 


PLOW  AND  SICKLE 


was  done  at  that  time.  On  these 
farms  men  and  women,  rich  and  poor, 
worked  alike.  Even  kings,  it  is  said, 
sometimes  put  their  hands  to  the 
plow.  The  plow  used  in  preparing 


SO  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

the  soil  for  the  seed  was  easily  lifted 
in  one  hand.  It  was  a  simple  imple- 
ment of  wood,  without  wheels.  It 
was  so  light  that  it  made  only  a 
trifling  furrow.  Oxen  and  donkeys 
were  used  to  draw  the  plow.  The 
ground  was  leveled  with  a  harrow. 
Spades  and  shovels  were  also  used. 

Now  when  Ruth  came  to  this  farm, 
it  was  the  first  season,  or  harvest  time. 
The  Hebrew  year  was  divided  into 
six  seasons.  The  first  season  began 
in  April  and  extended  to  the  middle 
of  June.  The  second  season,  summer 
or  the  time  of  fruits,  began  in  June 
and  ended  in  August.  The  weather 
was  then  so  hot  that  people  slept 
under  the  open  sky.  From  the  mid- 
dle of  August  to  the  middle  of  October 
was  the  hot  season. 


THE   STORY  OF  RUTH  81 

During  all  this  time — from  the 
middle  of  April  to  the  middle  of  Sep- 
tember— there  was  no  rain.  This  was 
the  dry  season.  During  May,  June, 
July  and  August  not  a  cloud  could  be 
seen.  Think  what  it  would  mean  to 
us  to  be  without  rain  for  five  months! 
But  the  earth  was  not  dry,  as  the  dew 
was  so  heavy,  and  the  ground  was 
watered  by  canals. 

After  this  hot  season  came  the  seed- 
time, from  October  to  December.  This 
was  the  time  when  the  seed  was  sown. 
The  first  rain  began  to  fall  in  the  lat- 
ter- part  of  October.  This  was  called 
the  "former"  rain.  The  farmers 
looked  for  this  rain,  to  do  their  plant- 
ing. The  weather  was  still  warm; 
but  soon  it  grew  colder.  Snow  could 
be  seen  on  the  mountains  at  the  end 


82  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

of  this  season.  In  November  the 
leaves  fell  from  the  trees. 

Then  came  winter,  which  lasted 
until  the  middle  of  February.  In 
winter  there  was  some  ice,  but  it 
melted  very  quickly,  while  in  the  val- 
leys it  was  so  warm  on  bright  days 
that  the  fields  were  covered  with 
flowers.  As  winter  passed  away  in 
February,  the  crops  began  to  grow, 
and  the  trees  again  put  forth  their 
green  leaves. 

Next  came  the  last  season,  or  the 
sixth  part  of  the  year.  This  lasted 
from  the  middle  of  February  to  the 
middle  of  April.  Now  there  was 
more  rain,  and  it  was  called  the 
"latter"  rain.  The  weather  grew 
warmer.  Soon  the  grain  was  ready 
to  be  cut. 


THE   STORY  OF  RUTH  83 

We  have  already  heard  of  the 
Feast  of  Passover.  When  the  har- 
vest-time began,  which  was  also  the 
beginning  of  this  feast,  a  sheaf  of 
barley  was  burnt  as  an  offering  to 
God.  Thus  the  Hebrews  offered 
the  first-fruits  of  the  harvest  as  a 
thank-offering  to  God,  for  the  supply 
of  grain  which  had  been  given  them. 
Nothing  raised  on  the  farm  could  be 
eaten,  nor  could  a  sickle  be  put  to  the 
grain,  until  the  offering  was  made. 

Then  the  reaping  commenced. 
First  the  barley,  then  the  wheat,  was 
cut.  The  grain  was  carried  to  the 
threshing-floor  in  wagons.  These 
wagons  had  two  wheels,  and  would 
look  like  carts  to  us.  On  a  rising 
ground  in  the  field  was  the  threshing- 
floor.  Here  the  grain  was  beaten 


84 


THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 


with  a  roller.  It  is  said  that,  even 
now,  some  of  the  old  threshing  floors 
are  still  to  be  seen.  The  threshing- 
machines  of  the  Hebrews  were  made 
of  wood,  with  iron  teeth  below,  to 
force  out  the  grain,  and  to  cut  np  the 
straw.  They  were  drawn  by  oxen. 


WINNOWING    GRAIN 


The  grain  was  separated  from  the 
chaff  and  fine-cut  straw  by  winnow- 
ing; that  is,  by  tossing  it  up  with 
a  spoon-shaped  wooden  implement 


THE   STORY  OF  RUTH  85 

against  the  wind.  Then  the  grain 
was  further  cleared  by  passing  it 
through  a  sieve.  At  last  the  grain 
was  stored  in  a  granary,  which  was 
sometimes  only  a  cave  or  pit  and 
sometimes  a  barn. 

When  the  harvest-time- — which 
lasted  seven  weeks — was  over,  there 
was  another  feast.  This  was  Pente- 
cost, or  the  Feast  of  the  Harvest. 
Once  again  there  was  an  offering, 
but  this  time  it  consisted  of  two  loaves 
of  bread,  made  of  the  new  meal. 
There  was  dancing  and  singing  at  the 
feast. 

Another  feast  of  this  kind  was  held 
in  October,  at  the  in-gathering  of  the 
fruits.  This  festival  lasted  eight 
days.  The  people  erected  booths  of 
green  boughs,  to  remind  them  of  the 


86  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

tabernacles  in  which  their  ancestors 
lived  in  the  wilderness.  So  this  was 
called  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles. 

Besides  the  grain,  the  farmers 
raised  flax,  cotton  and  vegetables. 
They  also  had  large  orchards.  The 
sides  of  the  hills  and  mountains  were 
covered  with  vineyards. 

Boaz  had  now  planted  and  reaped 
for  six  years,  but  the  next  year  he 
would  not  plow  or  sow.  Why  was 
this?  Because  the  Hebrews  felt 
that  the  land  belonged  to  God. 
They  felt  that  it  was  theirs  only  for 
the  enjoyment  of  what  the  soil  gave 
them.  To  remind  the  people  of  this 
every  seventh  year  was  made  a  year 
of  rest  for  the  land.  During  this 
"SabbaticaP  year  no  seed  was  sown, 
and  all  that  grew  was  given  to  the  poor. 


THE   STORY  OF  RUTH  87 

After  Boaz  and  the  harvesters  had 
finished  their  threshing,  and  Ruth 
had  gleaned  each  day,  they  had  a 
merry  time  of  feasting,  singing  and 
dancing.  Then  it  was  that  Naomi- 
planning  to  do  something  for  the 
welfare  of  Ruth- -bade  her  tell  Boaz 
of  her  kinship  to  him. 

There  was  a  custom  among  the 
Hebrews  which  required  the  nearest 
kinsman  of  the  dead  husband  to 
marry  the  widow,  to  keep  the  prop- 
erty from  going  to  others.  Boaz  was 
pleased  to  hear  that  Ruth  was  related 
to  him,  and  wished  to  make  her  his 
wife,  but  he  knew  that  Ruth  had  a 
nearer  relative,  to  whom  this  right 
belonged.  He  told  Ruth  to  go  home 
to  Naomi,  and  he  would  see  what 
could  be  done. 


88  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

So  the  next  day  Boaz  went  to  the 
open  space  in  front  of  the  gates  of 
the  city.  This  was  the  place  where 
the  elders  met,  to  discuss  the  affairs 
of  the  city.  Boaz  knew  he  would 
meet  his  kinsman  there.  He  called 
ten  witnesses  to  listen,  as  he  laid  the 
matter  before  the  man.  He  said: 
"The  land  that  belonged  to  our  rela- 
tive Elimelech  must  be  redeemed.'7 

The  man  was  willing  to  redeem  the 
land,  but  when  he  heard  that  if  he 
did  that  he  must  also  make  Ruth  his 
wife,  he  said :  "I  cannot  do  that,  but 
will  give  my  rights  to  Boaz.7'  He 
then  drew  off  his  shoe  and  handed  it 
to  Boaz,  which  meant  that  a  bargain 
had  been  made.  It  was  the  same  as 
a  shake  of  the  hand  among  us. 

Thereupon    Boaz    and   Ruth   were 


THE   STORY  OF  RUTH  89 

married.  Naomi  was  very  happy  for 
the  sake  of  Ruth,  who  had  been  so 
good  to  her.  All  the  people  rejoiced, 
and  hoped  she  would  be  happy. 
Thus  Ruth  was  rewarded  for  her 
goodness. 

Ruth  had  a  son,  and  this  son  was 
the  father  of  Jesse,  and  thus  David 
became  the  great-grandson  of  this 
noble  woman. 


JOSEPH    EXPLAINING   PHARAOH'S   DREAMS 

(90) 


THE  STORY  OF  JOSEPH 

WE  have  heard  before  that  the 
Hebrews  were  called  "Children  of 
Israel."  They  were  so  called  because 
they  were  descended  from  Jacob. 
For  God  had  given  the  name  of 
"Israel"  to  Jacob,  and  so  all  the 
people  who  were  descended  from 
Jacob  were  called  the  "Children  of 
Israel." 

Jacob  lived  in  Canaan.  He  lived 
long  before  Moses  was  born.  He 
owned  hundreds  of  sheep  and  cattle, 
and  many  droves  of  camels  and  don- 
keys. He  was  the  father  of  twelve 
sons.  Ten  of  his  sons  had  grown  to 
be  men,  while  the  youngest  was  still 


(91) 


92  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

a  baby,  and  the  next  to  the  youngest 
a  tall  lad. 

Jacob  seemed  to  love  this  lad, 
whose  name  was  Joseph,  more  than 
all  his  other  sons.  The  older  sons 
did  not  like  this,  and  did  not  speak 
kindly  to  Joseph.  He  told  their 
father  whatever  wrong  he  saw  his 
brothers  do.  This,  also,  made  his 
brothers  feel  bitter  toward  him. 

One  day  Joseph  said:  "What  do 
you  think  I  dreamed  last  night?" 
His  brothers  answered:  aWe  do 
not  care  about  your  dreams" ;  but  he 
told  them  the  dream.  "We  were 
all  in  the  harvest-fields,"  said  he, 
"among  the  sheaves  of  grain,  when 
it  seemed  that  my  sheaf  stood  up 
straight,  while  your  sheaves  seemed 
to  bow  down  to  mine." 


THE   STORY  OF  JOSEPH  93 

His  brothers  were  very  angry  and 
said:  "Do  you  think  you  will  reign 
over  us?"  They  did  not  like  this 
dream. 

A  few  days  after  this  Joseph  again 
said:  "I  had  a  still  stranger  dream 
last  night."  They  did  not  wish  to 
hear  him  tell  this,  but  the  lad  related 
the  dream  to  them  and  to  their  father, 
Jacob.  "It  seemed/'  said  he,  "that 
the  sun,  moon  and  eleven  stars  all 
bowed  down  to  me."  This  dream 
pleased  the  brothers  still  less,  and 
now  his  father  said  sharply  to  him: 
"What,  shall  I  and  your  mother  and 
your  brothers  bow  down  to  you  ?  For 
by  the  sun  and  moon  you  mean  your 
parents,  and  by  the  stars  whom  do 
you  mean  but  your  brothers  ? " 

But  after  Jacob  had  thought  more 


94  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

about  it,  he  was  pleased  with  this 
dream.  It  seemed  to  him  that  it 
meant  great  happiness  for  Joseph,  and 
he  loved  him  more  than  ever. 

After  the  fruit  had  been  gathered 
in,  Jacob's  older  sons  led  their  flocks 
to  Shechem.  Here  there  were  good 
pastures  for  the  sheep.  This  was 
fifty  miles  away  from  Hebron,  where 
they  lived.  Joseph  missed  his 
brothers  and  their  sheep.  His  father 
heard  nothing  from  them,  for  a  long 
time.  One  day  he  said  to  Joseph : 
"I  wish  I  could  hear  how  your  broth- 
ers are  getting  along.  It  is  a  long 
time  since  we  have  heard  from  them." 
Then  Joseph  replied:  "Let  me  go  to 
them."  Joseph  was  only  a  boy,  and 
Jacob  knew  that  there  was  danger 
from  wild  beasts  on  the  way.  But 


THE   STORY  OF  JOSEPH  95 


he  knew,  too,that  Joseph  was  brave, 
although  so  young,  and  he  was  will- 
ing to  let  him  go. 

Joseph  was  soon  ready.  So  he 
started  on  his  journey.  He  had  on 
his  simple  dress,  like  the  one  David 
wore.  He  carried  his  leathern  bottle, 
full  of  water.  Of  course,  his  shep- 
herd's pouch,  with  food,  he  also  had, 
for  it  would  take  him  some  days  to 
travel  so  far.  He  also  wore  a  beau- 
tiful coat,  which  his  father  had  given 
him.  It  was  a  coat  of  many  colors, 
woven  of  fine  linen,  and  fastened  with 
a  fine  leathern  girdle.  Perhaps  he 
carried  his  sandals,  for  the  way  was 
long,  and  there  were  stones  and  rough 
places  on  the  road. 

Jacob  kissed  Joseph,  as  he  bade 
him  good-by,  and  hoped  God  would 


96  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

bless  him  on  his  way.  Joseph's 
mother  was  not  there  to  see  him,  for 
she  had  died  a  year  before.  Her 
grave  was  over  the  hills,  in  Bethle- 
hem, not  many  miles  away. 

Joseph  went  on  for  several  days. 
When  he  reached  the  place  where  he 
thought  he  would  find  his  brothers, 
he  looked  about  him.  "Where  are 
they?  What  can  have  happened  to 
them?"  thought  Joseph,  for  not  a 
man  or  a  sheep  was  to  be  seen.  Only 
the  lonely  field,  without  a  sign  of  life, 
was  about  him.  He  was  very  much 
troubled.  "What  shall  I  do  now?" 
thought  he. 

Just  then,  a  man  came  near.  "  Have 
you  seen  the  sons  of  Jacob,  with 
their  flocks,  near  here?"  asked  Joseph. 
"Yes,"  answered  the  man,  "they  were 


THE   STORY  OF  JOSEPH  97 

here  for  a  long  time,  but  now  they 
have  gone  away.  I  think  they  have 
gone  to  find  fresh  pastures  for  the 
sheep."  He  then  told  Joseph  the 
way  to  reach  them.  Joseph  would 
not  return  to  his  father  without  some 
news  of  his  brothers:  so,  although 
tired  and  hungry,  this  brave  youth 
again  started  on.  He  walked  some 
distance,  and  on  coming  to  a  green 
hill,  saw  the  sheep  grazing. 

Let  us  see  what  his  brothers  had 
been  planning  to  do,  and  why  they 
went  so  far  away  from  home.  They 
hated  their  brother,  and,  terrible  as 
it  seems,  wished  to  kill  him.  As  he 
was  still  some  distance  away,  one  of 
the  brothers  said:  U8ee,  who  is  this 
coming  to  us?"  They  looked  and 
saw  Joseph,  with  his  beautiful  coat 


98  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

over  his  shoulders,  coming  toward 
them.  "See,"  said  one  of  them,  -"it  is 
our  brother,  the  Dreamer."  For  this 
was  the  name  they  had  given  him; 
"Now,"  said  they,  "we  have  the 
chance  to  do  as  we  like  with  him. 
Let  us  kill  him." 

Most  of  the  brothers  did  not  seem 
to  realize  what  a  terrible  deed  this 
would  be — to  take  the  life  of  this 
youth,  who  had  done  no  wrong  to 
any  one.  But  the  thought  filled 
Reuben,  the  eldest  brother,  with 
horror.  "Do  not,  my  brothers,  be 
guilty  of  such  a  deed!"  he  pleaded, 
but  they  did  not  listen  to  him.  So 
when  he  found  they  still  meant  to 
kill  Joseph,  he  said:  "Do  not  shed 
blood,  but  put  him  into  a  pit  in 
the  ground,  and  there  let  him  die." 


THE   STORY  OP  JOSEPH  99 

The  others  thought  this  was  the  best 
plan. 

When  Joseph  came  up  to  them,  he 
called:  "How  are  you,  my  brothers  ? 
Our  father  sent  me  to  see  you."  They 
said:  "You  are  no  brother  of  ours." 
Then  the  coat  was  taken  away  from 
him,  and  they  put  him  into  the  pit. 
There  was  no  water  in  it.  Reuben 
then  went  away.  The  rest  of  the 
brothers  sat  down,  to  eat  their  meal 
of  bread  and  parched  corn.  They 
still  thought  of  Joseph  in  the  pit. 

One  of  the  men,  looking  up,  ex- 
claimed: "Behold,  who  are  coming 
this  way?"  In  the  distance,  men  and 
animals  were  seen  coining  toward 
them.  "It  is  a  caravan.  The  mer- 
chants are  corning  this  way,"  said 
they. 


100  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 


The  camels  were  usually  in  lines 
of  seven.  A  servant  led  the  first 
one;  the  second  was  fastened  to 
the  first  one  by  a  rope,  the  third 
to  the  second,  and  so  on,  following 
one  behind  the  other.  The  leader  of 
the  caravan  was  always  first,  as  he 
knew  the  way.  Sometimes  the  men  sat 
upon  the  backs  of  the  camels,  with 
a  cloth  under  them  for  a  saddle. 

These  caravans  traveled  across  the 
country.  The  men  traded,  bought  and 
sold  goods.  They  traded  what  they 
raised  in  their  own  country  for  other 
things  which  were  raised  in  other 


THE   STORY  OF  JOSKPiT  101 

lands.  They  carried  their  measures 
and  weights  about  with  them.  Their 
weights  were  stones,  which  they  car- 
ried in  bags.  They  bought  and  sold 
their  goods,  as  being  worth  a  certain 
weight  of  silver.  Gold  was  not  used 
in  trading,  as  it  is  now  with  us. 
The  coin  principally  used  was  the 
"shekel"  and  was  worth  about  sixty 
cents  in  our  money. 

As  the  merchants  often  traveled 
a  great  distance,  they  carried  with 
them  such  things  as  they  might  need. 
If  we  had  seen  them  unpack  their 
loads,  we  might  have  seen  a  mattress, 
a  coverlet,  a  piece  of  leather  (which 
made  their  table)  and  a  few  pots  and 
kettles  of  copper.  We  think  they 
must  also  have  carried  their  leathern 
bags,  their  tents,  lamps  and  food. 


102  TEte  'ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

At  night  they  carried  a  lighted  torch 
on  a  pole,  so  that  no  one  of  the  cara- 
van should  be  lost. 

When  Joseph's  brothers  saw  the 
merchants  approaching,  one  of  them 
said:  "Of  what  good  will  it  be  to  us, 
if  we  kill  our  brother?  Let  us  sell 
him  to  these  men,  for  then  the  blood 
of  our  own  brother  will  not  be  on 
our  hands.75 

When  the  merchants  came  up  to 
them,  Joseph  was  taken  from  the  pit. 
The  merchants  were  asked  how  much 
they  would  give  for  Joseph.  "We 
will  give  you  twenty  pieces  of  silver 
for  him,"  said  one  of  the  men.  So 
Joseph  was  sold  to  the  men  as  a  slave, 
and  taken  down  into  Egypt,  together 
with  the  rest  of  the  slaves  whom  they 
had. 


THE   STORY  OF  JOSEPH  103 

While  all  this  had  been  going  on,  Reu- 
ben was  away  looking  for  a  lost  lamb. 
When  he  returned  to  the  tent,  it  was 
night.  He  went  at  once  to  the  pit, 
intending,  when  his  brothers  were  not 
there,  to  take  Joseph  out  and  thus 
save  his  life.  As  he  looked  into  the 
dark  hole,  he  could  see  no  one. 
Then  he  called :  "Joseph,  Joseph,"  but 
no  answer  came.  Now  he  knew  that 
Joseph  was  no  longer  there.  He 
feared  that  he  was  dead.  He  went 
to  his  brothers,  who  told  him  what 
they  had  done.  Reuben  was  glad  to 
hear  from  them  that  Joseph  was  still 
alive. 

The  brothers  took  Joseph's  coat, 
and  after  tearing  it  and  dipping  it 
into  blood,  carried  it  to  their  father. 
"See,  we  have  found  this,"  said  they. 


104  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

When  Jacob  saw  the  well-known 
coat,  all  torn  and  red  with  blood,  he 
thought  some  wild  beast  had  killed 
his  beloved  son.  Weeping  bitterly, 
he  cried:  "My  son  is  dead.  I  shall 
weep  for  him  till  I  die."  After  the 
brothers  saw  how  much  their  father 
felt  the  loss  of  Joseph,  they  were 
very,  very  sorry  for  what  they  had 
done,  but  it  was  then  too  late  to  call 
him  back. 

The  merchants  took  Joseph  to 
Egypt.  There  he  was  sold  as  a  slave 
to  a  man  who  was  the  head  cook  for 
Pharaoh,  the  king.  As  soon  as  this 
cook  discovered  what  a  bright  young 
man  Joseph  was,  he  had  him  edu- 
cated; he  treated  him  better  than  the 
other  slaves;  he  also  gave  him  charge 
of  his  house.  Thus,  Joseph  grew  to 


THE   STORY  OF  JOSEPH  105 

be  a  learned  man.  Once  the  wife  of 
this  cook  told  him  that  Joseph  had 
not  treated  her  well.  'Now  this  was 
not  true,  but  Potiphar,  the  cook,  be- 
lieved his  wife,  and  put  Joseph  into 
prison. 

Here  he  fared  better  than  the  rest 
of  the  prisoners.  For  the  keeper  of 
the  prison  saw  that  Joseph  was  care- 
ful about  his  work,  and  that  he  was 
different  from  the  other  prisoners. 
He  was  friendly  with  some  of  the 
prisoners.  One  day,  the  king's  but- 
ler, who  was  also  in  prison,  told 
Joseph  that  he  had  had  a  strange 
dream.  After  hearing  the  dream, 
Joseph  told  him  to  be  of  good  hope, 
for  in  three  days  he  would  be  released 
from  prison.  In  prison  with  them 
was  the  king's  baker,  also.  He,  too, 


106  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

had  a  dream.  He  was  anxious  to  tell  it 
to  Joseph.  After  hearing  it,  Joseph 
said:  "I  do  not  like  to  tell  you  bad 
news,  but  your  dream  sturvvs  that  you 
will  be  put  to  death  in  three  days." 
And  it  happened  just  as  Joseph  had 
said;  for  the  butler  was  set  free  from 
prison,  and  the  baker  was  hanged. 
Joseph,  however,  remained  in  prison 
for  two  years  after  this. 

One  night,  Pharaoh,  the  king,  had 
two  dreams.  They  seemed  very 
strange  dreams.  He  asked  all  the 
wise  men  in  Egypt  what  they  meant, 
but  the  wise  men  could  not  tell  the 
meaning  of  them.  Pharaoh  was  greatly 
troubled.  Then  it  was  that  the  king's 
butler  thought  of  Joseph.  It  seems 
that  he  had  not  thought  of  him  since 
he  left  the  prison  two  years  before. 


THE   STORY  OF  JOSEPH  107 

He  told  Pharaoh  how  Joseph  had 
explained  his  dream  in  prison,  and 
how  it  had  come  to  pass.  The  king 
quickly  sent  for  Joseph. 

When  Joseph  had  shaved  himself, 
and  put  on  his  best  clothes,  he  went 
before  the  king.  Pharaoh  said  to 
Joseph:  -"I  have  had  two  dreams, 
and  not  one  of  the  wise  men  can  tell 
me  what  they  mean.  It  is  said  that 
you  can  tell  the  meaning  of  a  dream, 
as  soon  as  you  have  heard  it." 

"I  cannot,  myself,  do  it,"  said  Joseph, 
abut  God  will  help  me,  and  will  tell 
me  what  your  dreams  mean." 

Then  the  king  related  the  first 
dream  to  him.  He  said :  "  In  my 
dream,  I  seemed  to  be  standing  on 
the  bank  of  the  river  Mle.  I  was 
watching  the  water,  as  it  flowed 


108  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 


along,  when  suddenly  out  of  the 
water  came  seven  large,  fat  cows. 
These  cows  began  to  feed  peacefully 
in  the  meadow.  Again  I  saw  seven 
cows  come  out  of  the  river,  but  these 
were  lean  and  ugly.  I  had  never 
seen  cows  so  ugly-looking  before.  As 
soon  as  these  lean  cows  saw  the  seven 
fine  ones,  they  ran  after  them,  and 
ate  them  all  up;  and  even  after  eat- 
ing the  other  ones,  the  lean  cows  did 
not  seem  to  grow  any  fatter.  This 
was  strange  to  me.  As  I  was  watch- 
ing them,  suddenly  I  awoke.  Soon,  I 
slept  again. 

"I  dreamed  a  second  time,  but  this 
time  I  saw  seven  heavy  ears  of  grain 
growing  out  of  one  stalk;  then  seven 
lean  ears  came  out.  These  were 
blasted  by  the  hot  east  wind,  but  they 


THE    STORY  OF  JOSEPH  109 

ate  up  the  good  ears.  Wonder- 
ing, I  stood  looking  at  the  strange 
sight,  when,  suddenly,  I  awoke,  and 
found  it  all  a  dream.  Now,  tell 
me,  if  you  can,"  said  the  king,  "what 
is  the  meaning  of  these  strange 
things." 

Joseph  thought  a  moment  and  said: 
"Both  dreams  have  but  one  meaning, 
0  Pharaoh.  The  fat  cows  and  full 
ears  of  grain  mean  seven  good  years. 
The  lean  cows  and  the  lean  ears 
mean  seven  bad  years.  Now  this 
is  what  the  dreams  show:  there 
are  coming  seven  years  of  plenty  in 
the  land  of  Egypt,  but  after  that  will 
come  seven  dreadful  years  of  famine, 
when  nothing  can  be  grown.  Then 
all  that  has  been  in  the  land  in  the 
time  of  plenty  will  be  eaten  up.  All 


110  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

the  land  will  sink  under  the  great  and 
terrible  famine. 

" And  now/'  continued  Joseph,  "since 
you  have  had  both  dreams  during  the 
same  night,  it  is  certain  that  these 
things  will  happen  in  this  land.  0 
King,  seek  some  man  to  take  charge 
of  the  land.  Let  him  see  to  it  that 
now,  as  the  time  of  plenty  is  here, 
part  of  the  grain  be  stored  away. 
Then,  when  the  time  of  famine  shall 
come,  there  will  be  enough  food  to 
save  the  people  from  starvation." 

Pharaoh  was  pleased  with  Joseph, 
and  thought  this  good  advice,  so  he 
asked  his  courtiers  whom  he  should 
choose  to  do  this  work.  The  king 
said  to  Joseph:  ''Since  you  know  all 
this,  and  no  man  seems  wiser  than 
you,  I  will  make  you,  next  to  myself, 


THE   STORY  OF  JOSEPH  111 

the  ruler  over  the  land  of  Egypt. 
You  then  shall  manage  this  work." 
The  courtiers  were  greatly  pleased 
with  this.  The  king  took  a  ring  from 
off  his  finger,  and  gave  it  to  Joseph. 
He  also  put  a  gold  chain  around 
Joseph's  neck.  He  gave  him  clothes  of 
fine  linen.  Then  Joseph  rode  through 
the  city  in  the  royal  chariot.  The 
king  proclaimed  to  the  people:  "Jo- 
seph shall  be  next  to  me  in  power. 
He  shall  rule  over  the  land.  All  men 
shall  do  as  he  bids." 

Now,  at  that  time,  there  was  great 
plenty  in  the  land,  so  Joseph  went  to 
work  at  once.  He  built  granaries, 
and  collected  the  grain.  He  went 
about  the  country,  telling  the  people 
what  to  do.  There  were  larger  crops 
raised  on  the  farms  during  those  years 


112  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

than  ever  before.  He  did  not  allow 
anything  to  be  wasted.  They  stored 
away  in  the  granaries  so  much  wheat 
and  corn  that  it  could  not  be  meas- 
ured. All  the  storehouses  were  filled. 

Then  came  the  years  of  famine. 
Nothing  grew  on  the  farms.  Every- 
thing seemed  dead.  The  crops  all 
failed,  year  after  year.  The  people 
cried  for  food.  Then  Pharaoh  sent 
them  to  Joseph.  Joseph  opened  his 
storehouses,  and  the  land  of  Egypt 
was  saved.  The  famine  spread  far 
and  wide,  all  over  the  world.  People 
and  animals  were  dying  of  starvation 
everywhere.  When  it  became  known 
throughout  the  world  how  wise  Joseph 
had  been,  people  went  to  Egypt  to 
buy  their  food. 

One  day,  ten  strange  men  came  to 


THE   STORY  OF  JOSEPH  113 

buy  corn  from  Joseph.  Joseph  looked 
at  them  and  drew  back  surprised,  for 
who  do  you  think  they  were  ?  JSTone 
other  than  his  own  brothers,  who  had 
sold  him  into  Egypt !  The  men,  how- 
ever, did  not  recognize  their  long-lost 
brother.  They  bowed  down  before 
him. 

"From  whence  do  you  come?" 
roughly  asked  Joseph.  "We  have 
come  from  Hebron  to  buy  food,  as 
there  is  a  famine  in  our  country,"  they 
answered.  "No,"  said  Joseph,  "you 
are  spies ;  you  have  come  to  find  out 
about  our  land,  and  then  you  will  gd 
back  and  tell  about  it  to  your  people." 
The  men  were  much  frightened. 
"Surely,  we  have  come  only  for  food," 
they  said.  "We  are  all  sons  of  one 
father."  "Where  is  your  father?" 


114  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

Joseph  then  asked.  aHe  is  at  home, 
and  our  youngest  brother  is  with  him/' 
they  replied.  "We  had  another 
brother,  but  he  is  no  longer  living.'7 

Then  Joseph  acted  as  though  he 
were  very  angry.  "You  must  prove 
to  me  that  you  are  not  spies.  Send 
one  of  your  brothers  home,  to  bring 
back  your  youngest  brother.  The  rest 
of  you  will  be  put  into  prison.  Thus, 
I  shall  find  out  if  what  you  say  is  true." 

The  men  were  put  into  prison. 
After  three  days  Joseph  said  to  them : 
"  Gro  home,  now,  with  your  provisions, 
but  leave  one  brother  here  with  me. 
Then  bring  back  your  youngest  brother, 
when  you  come  again."  The  brothers 
talked  among  themselves,  saying  that 
they  were  now  being  punished  for 
their  treatment  of  Joseph,  years 


THE   STORY  OF  JOSEPH  115 

before.  When  Joseph  heard  them, 
he  felt  so  sad  that  he  went  out  of  the 
room,  to  weep  alond.  After  this,  he 
kept  Simeon,  one  o£  the  brothers,  and 
sent  the  rest  to  their  home.  He  filled 
his  brothers'  sacks  with  provisions. 

On  their  way  home,  the  men  stopped 
to  feed  their  donkeys.  On  opening 
his  sack,  one  of  the  brothers  cried: 
"  See  what  I  have  found ! "  And  look- 
ing into  the  sack,  what  did  they  see  ? 
There  was  the  money  which  he  had 
paid  for  the  grain.  They  were  all 
badly  frightened,  and  hurried  home 
to  tell  their  father  about  it,  and  when 
each  man,  on  opening  his  sack,  found  his 
money,  they  were  even  more  troubled. 

They  then  told  Jacob  what  the 
Egyptian  ruler  had  asked  of  them. 
When  he  heard  that  they  were  to  take 


116  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

Benjamin,  the  youngest  brother,  to 
Egypt  with  them,  he  cried:  "Joseph 
is  gone;  Simeon  is  gone;  and  now 
you  would  take  my  youngest  son 
away.  All  things  seem  to  go  wrong 
with  me."  Reuben,  the  eldest  son, 
said  to  his  father:  "You  may  kill  my 
two  sons,  if  we  do  not  bring  Benjamin 
back  to  you.  Trust  him  to  me ;  I  will 
take  care  of  him."  But  Jacob  would 
not  let  his  youngest  son  go,  for  he  felt 
that  he  could  not  live  without  Benjamin. 
After  a  time,  the  famine  grew  worse. 
Jacob's  family  was  again  in  need  of 
food.  The  grain  was  all  used  up. 
Jacob  told  his  sons  to  go  ta  Egypt  for 
more  food.  They  would  not  go  with- 
out Benjamin.  Jacob  was  much 
troubled.  He  said :  "  Why  did  you  tell 
the  man  you  had  another  brother?'7 


THE   STORY  OF  JOSEPH  117 

Judah,  another  of  the  sons,  answered : 
"You  may  do  with  me  as  you  like,  if 
we  do  not  bring  Benjamin  back  to 
you.  Only  let  us  go,  for  we  shall 
soon  starve,  unless  we  have  more 
food." 

So  Jacob,  at  last,  when  he  found 
nothing  else  could  be  done,  allowed 
Benjamin  to  go  with  the  rest.  He 
told  them  to  take  back  the  money 
found  in  the  sacks.  He  also  sent 
presents  to  Joseph. 

Once  again  they  stood  before 
Joseph.  When  he  saw  them  with 
Benjamin  among  them,  he  told  his 
steward  to  take  them  to  the  palace — to 
get  all  ready  for  the  meal  which  they 
were  to  take  with  him.  On  the  way 
to  the  palace  they  told  the  steward 
about  the  money  they  had  brought 


118  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

back  to  Egypt.  The  man  said  he 
knew  nothing  about  the  money  in 
the  sacks.  When  they  went  into  the 
palace,  their  brother  Simeon,  who  had 
been  kept  in  prison,  met  them.  The 
slaves  washed  their  feet  and  fed  their 
beasts.  The  men  spread  out  their 
gifts,  and  happily  waited  for  the 
ruler. 

As  Joseph  came  in  he  took  their 
gifts,  and  said:  "How  is  your  father? 
Is  he  still  alive  ?"  They  bowed  to 
the  ground,  as  they  replied:  "He 
still  lives."  Joseph  looked  at  Ben- 
jamin and  said:  "Is  this  your  young- 
est brother?  Grod  bless  you,  my 


son.' 


Joseph  ordered  the  meal  to  be 
served.  The  brothers  sat  together 
at  one  table.  Joseph  sat  at  another 


THE    STORY  OF  JOSEPH  119 

one.  In  those  days  an  Egyptian 
could  not  sit  at  the  same  table  with 
people  of  another  country.  The 
brothers  thought  it  very  strange, 
when  they  went  to  the  table,  to  be 
placed  according  to  their  ages.  Thus, 
they  feasted,  and  rested  for  the  night. 

The  next  morning  they  were  very 
happy,  as  they  started  homeward  with 
their  sacks  full  of  corn.  They  had 
not  gone  far,  when  a  band  of  horse- 
men overtook  them.  "You  have  stolen 
a  silver  cup  from  the  ruler,"  called 
one  of  them. 

"Let  him  in  whose  sack  the  cup 
may  be  found  be  made  a  slave,"  said 
the  brothers;  so  the  sacks  were  opened 
and  searched.  There  again  the 
money  was  found,  as  before,  and  after 
searching  all  the  other  sacks  they 


120  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

at  last  came  to  that  of  the  youngest 
brother,  and  here  what  did  they  find? 
The  brothers  could  scarcely  be- 
lieve their  eyes,  as  they  saw  the  cup 
taken  from  the  sack  of  Benjamin. 
They  were  almost  struck  dumb. 

Now  Joseph  had  ordered  the 
money,  which  they  had  paid  for  the 
corn,  to  be  put  into  their  sacks.  He 
also  had  had  his  own  silver  cup  put 
into  the  bag  where  it  was  afterward 
found,  but  the  brothers  did  not  know 
this.  So  their  sacks  were  again 
placed  upon  their  beasts,  and  to- 
gether all  the  brothers  returned  to 
the  city.  Once  more  they  stood  be- 
fore Joseph.  They  were  so  worried 
that  they  did  not  know  what  to  do. 

"What  have  you  done?"  said 
Joseph.  "Did  you  not  know  that  I 


THE   STORY  OF  JOSEPH  121 

should  soon  discover  any  wrong  you 
might  do  ?"  Then  Judah,  the  brother 
who  had  promised  Jacob  that  he 
would  care  for  Benjamin,  spoke  to 
Joseph.  "The  cup  has  been  found 
in  the  sack  of  our  youngest  brother. 
Take  me  as  a  slave,  in  his  place,  for  I 
cannot  go  home  to  my  aged  father 
without  him.  I  could  not  bear  to  see 
my  father  so.  He  will  die  if  Ben- 
jamin does  not  return  to  him,  for  he 
alone  remains  to  cheer  my  father, 
since  our  other  brother  was  taken 
away.  So,  I  beg  of  you,  let  me  stay,  but 
let  Benjamin  go  back  to  our  father.7' 
When  Joseph  heard  his  brother 
speak  in  this  way,  he  could  keep 
silent  no  longer.  After  his  officers 
had  gone  from  the  room  he  wept 
aloud,  and  cried:  "I  am  Joseph,  your 


122  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 


brother.  Is  my  father  still  alive  V 
His  brothers  could  not  answer  him, 
they  were  so  amazed.  Joseph  put 
his  arms  around  the  neck  of  Ben- 
jamin. "Do  not  fear  for  what  you 
did  to  me,"  he  said.  "It  was  God 
who  sent  me  to  Egypt.  I  was  sent 
here  to  save  my  father's  family  in  this 
great  famine.  So  let  us  be  happy 
and  thankful  that  these  things  have 
happened  in  this  way." 

His  brothers  kissed  Joseph,  and  all 
of  them  wept  together.  "Go  back 
and  tell  our  father  all  about  me," 
said  Joseph.  "Tell  him  I  am  ruler 
of  this  land.  Bid  him  come  with  you 
and  your  families  to  live  here  in 
Egypt." 

When  Pharaoh,  the  king,  heard  of 
the  happy  meeting  between  the  bro- 


THE   STORY  OF  JOSEPH  123 


thers,  he  also  bade  them  welcome  to 
his  country.  He  sent  chariots  and 
provisions  to  Jacob.  Joseph  gave 
new  clothes  to  all  his  brothers,  and  to 
Benjamin  he  gave  five  suits  of  clothes 
and  three  hundred  pieces  of  silver. 

They  set  out  for  their  homes,  and 
Joseph  went  with  them  part  of  the 
way.  Upon  reaching  their  father's 
home,  they  said  to  him:  "Joseph  is 
still  alive."  Jacob  did  not  believe 
them,  but  when  he  saw  the  wagons 
and  chariots,  which  the  king  had  sent 
to  take  them  to  Egypt,  he  knew  the 
good  news  was  true.  Jacob  said: 
"I  shall  see  Joseph  before  I  die." 

All  was  made  ready,  and  Jacob  and 
his  sons  and  their  families  departed 
from  their  homes.  Joseph  met  them 
and  gave  them  the  best  land  in  Egypt 


124  THE  ANCIENT  HEBKEWS 

to  live  in.  The  king  also  met  them, 
and  bade  them  welcome  to  his  country, 

so  here  the  " Children  of  Israel" found 

\ 

new  homes.  They  dwelt  in  the  land 
for  four  hundred  years,  until  Moses 
was  sent  to  lead  them  out. 


DAVID  AND  GOLIATH 


,  as  David  watched  his  flocks, 
there  were  very  grave  dangers  to 
f  ace,  for  there  were  many  wild  animals 
about.  It  is  told  how  at  one  time  a 
lion  attacked  his  sheep,  and  he,  with 
his  own  hands,  killed  the  lion  and 
saved  a  lamb  which  the  lion  had  seized. 
At  another  time  he  killed  a  bear.  So, 
by  leading  this  kind  of  a  life,  facing 
such  dangers,  he  became  a  strong, 
brave  man.  He  also  learned,  by  liv- 
ing in  the  open  air,  under  the  blue 
sky,  alone  with  nature,  to  see  the 
beauty  in  the  world  about  him.  He 
grew  to  love  the  earth  as  Glod  had 
made  it,  and  looked  to  Him  as  the 
Griver  of  all  blessings. 


(125) 


126  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

When  David  was  a  young  man,  the 
Hebrews  were  at  war  with  the  Philis- 
tines. One  day  he  was  sent  with 
bread  and  parched  corn  for  his  bro- 
thers, who  were  in  the  army.  He 
took,  also,  ten  pieces  of  cheese,  as  a 
present  for  their  captain.  In  those 
days  it  was  the  custom  for  each 
soldier  to  provide  for  himself.  And 
Jesse  thought,  since  his  sons  had  been 
away  with  the  army  so  long,  that  they 
would  be  in  need  of  food.  A  servant 
went  with  David,  and  they  had  a 
wagon  and  donkey  to  carry  the  pro- 
visions. David  was  glad  to  be  sent 
on  such  an  errand. 

The  army  was  encamped  not  many 
miles  from  Bethlehem.  When  David 
reached  the  battlefield,  he  hurried  to 
the  front.  Here  he  saw  the  soldiers 


DAVID  AND  GOLIATH  127 

with  their  arms.  They  carried  clubs, 
slings,  and  bows  and  arrrows.  Not 
one  of  them,  except  the  king  and 
his  son,  carried  a  sword.  Although 
still  young,  David  longed  to  be  of 
service  to  his  country.  He  found 
that  the  Hebrew  army  was  in  great 
trouble.  They  dared  not  advance 
against  the  Philistines,  on  account  of 
a  mighty  giant  among  them,  who 
threatened  the  Hebrews. 

This  giant,  Goliath,  was  ten  feet 
tall.  For  more  than  forty  days  he 
had  come  out  and  dared  the  Hebrews 
to  choose  a  man  to  fight  with  him. 
And  no  man  among  them  was  brave 
enough  to  face  this  terrible  giant. 
But  when  David  heard  his  taunting  cry, 
he  walked  up  to  King  Saul  and  said  : 
"I  will  meet  this  giant  face  to  face." 


128 


THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 


When  Saul  looked  at  him,  so 
young,  and  with  no  weapons,  he  was 
much  surprised.  "You  are  not  able 
to  do  this,"  he  said,  "you  are  but  a 


HELMET,  BREASTPLATE,  AND  BOW  AND  ARROW 

lad."  But  when  David  told  him  of 
the  life  he  had  led,  how  he  had  killed 
wild  animals,  and  how  he  believed  he 
would  win  by  his  strength  in  God, 
the  king  gave  his  consent. 

King    Saul    gave    David    his    own 


DAVID  AND  GOLIATH  129 

armor  and  weapons.  As  David  put 
them. on,  he  found  they  were  so  heavy 
that  he  could  not  walk.  He  threw 
them  oft',  and,  unarmed,  went  to  meet 
the  giant.  He  picked  up  five  smooth 
stones  out  of  the  brook,  as  he  went, 
and  put  them  into  his  shepherd's 
pouch. 

Now  see  him — this  bright-faced 
youth,  in  his  simple  white  shepherd's 
dress,  his  staff  in  hand,  and  no 
weapons  but  his  sling.  See  the  great 
giant  as  David  faces  him. 

On  his  head  Goliath  wore  a  bronze 
helmet,  which  covered  his  head,  but 
left  his  face  bare.  On  his  body  he 
wore  a  coat  of  mail,  made  of  small 
plates  of  copper.  They  were  fastened 
on  cloth  or  leather,  and  overlapped 
one  another.  This  coat  of  mail  is 


130  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

said  to  have  weighed  two  hundred 
pounds.  His  legs  were  protected, 
from  the  knees  to  the  ankles,  by  a 
copper  covering  called  greaves.  They 
were  fastened  by  clasps  around  the 
ankles.  He  carried  a  spear  with  a 
handle  of  wood.  The  head  of  this 
spear  was  made  of  iron.  It  weighed 
eighteen  pounds.  At  his  side  hung 
his  sword,  and  over  his  shoulders 
was  swung  his  javelin.  Besides  all 
this  he  had  a  shield,  which  was  large 
enough  to  protect  his  whole  body.  It 
was  made  of  hide,  and  stretched  on  a 
wooden  frame  made  of  metal.  This 

was    carried    bv    another    man.    his 

«/ 

shield-bearer. 

Think  of  this  terrible  sight  to  look 
upon,  and  then  think  of  this  young 
boy  daring  to  approach  him !  What 


DAVID  AND  GOLIATH  131 

a  great  difference  there  was  between 
them- -the  one  so  large  in  body,  and 
protected  in  every  way ;  the  other  so 
strong  in  heart,  but  with  no  outward 
protection  but  his  old  friend  the  sling. 

Groliath  was  very  angry  when  he 
saw  David  wished  to  fight  with  him. 
".Come  near/'  he  cried,  "and  I  will 
give  your  flesh  to  the  wild  beasts." 
"No/'  said  David,  "for  I  shall  give  your 
flesh  to  the  wild  beasts.  You  come 
armed,  but  I  come  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord." 

Then  David,  whirling  his  sling 
around  his  head,  threw  the  stone. 
The  stone  struck  the  great  Groliath  in 
the  forehead;  it  sank  to  the  bone,  and 
the  giant  fell  to  the  ground.  Now 
David  quickly  ran  up,  and,  seizing 
the  giant's  sword,  cut  off  his  head. 


132  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

When  the  giant  fell  the  Philistines 
fled.  The  Hebrew  army  pursued  them, 
and  gained  a  great  victory.  David 
was  then  brought  before  the  king. 

King  Saul  asked :  «  Who  art  thou?" 
"I  am  the  son  of  Jesse,  of  Bethle- 
hem/' said  David.  The  king  would 
not  allow  him  to  return  home  that  day. 

When  David,  with  the  king,  re- 
turned home  from  the  battlefield,  he 
took  with  him  what  he  had  taken  from 
the  giant.  And  from  all  the  cities 
the  women  came  out  to  meet  the 
victors,  they  were  so  happy  to  see 
the  army  returning  home  again.  They 
danced  and  sang  a  song  of  victory,  as 
they  beat  their  tambourines  and 
struck  their  triangles,  just  as  Miriam 
had  done,  so  many  years  before,  be- 
side the  Red  Sea. 


DAVID   AND   JONATHAN 

I  HAVE  told  you  that  David,  after 
killing  the  giant  Goliath,  was  taken 
to  King  Saul.  Now  Saul  had  with 
him  his  son,  who  was  called  Jonathan. 
Jonathan  was  himself  a  brave  soldier, 
and  he  admired  David  so  much  for 
his  great  deed  that  they  at  once  be- 
came the  best  of  friends. 

"  Jonathan  loved  David  as  his  own 
soul."  Jonathan  took  off  his  princely 
robe  and  gave  it  to  David.  He  also 
gave  him  his  sword,  girdle  and  bow. 
This  was  the  greatest  honor  one  man 
could  show  to  another.  He  did  this 
so  that  every  one  should  know  how 
much  he  loved  David. 

(133) 


DAVID   AND   JONATHAN 


134 


DAVID  AND  JONATHAN  135 

Now  Saul  would  not  allow  David 
to  go  home  to  his  father's  house. 
Wherever  Saul  went,  there  also  was 
David.  Saul  placed  him  in  command 
of  the  soldier s,  and  everywhere  David 
was  victorious. 

It  is  said  that  when  the  king  was 
worried  or  angry,  the  beautiful 
strains  from  David's  harp  at  once 
soothed  and  quieted  him. 

The  longer  David  was  with  the 
king,  the  stronger  grew  the  love  be- 
tween David  and  Jonathan.  When 
David  became  well  known  and  be- 
loved by  all  Israel,  Saul  grew  jealous. 
Saul  told  Jonathan  that  he  meant  to 
kill  David.  Jonathan,  because  of  his 
love  for  David,  told  him  what  his 
father  wished  to  do.  "Gk),  David," 
said  he,  "and  hide  thyself.  I  will  go 


136  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 


and  talk  to  the  king,  my  father.'7 
Then  Jonathan  spoke  to  Saul  about 
the  goodness  of  David.  He  reminded 
him  of  how  he  had  killed  Goliath,  and 
had  done  so  much  for  the  people. 
Saul  listened  to  these  words,  and  said: 
"David  shall  not  be  slain."  Then 
Jonathan  brought  David  to  Saul,  and 
he  lived  with  them  as  before. 

Thus  Jonathan,  by  saving  the  life 
of  David,  showed  how  great  was  his 
love  for  him.  They  loved  each  other 
so  much  that  even  now,  when  people 
speak  of  the  great  love  that  any  two 
friends  have  for  each  other,  they  com- 
pare it  with  the  love  of  David  and 
Jonathan. 


x 


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